Artifacts introduced by zero order phase correction in proton NMR spectroscopy and a method of elimination by phase filtering.

In in-vivo applications of proton NMR spectroscopic imaging, an oscillatory "ringing" artifact has been observed in some of the spectra. The source of this artifact was found to be the presence of a harmonic "beating" effect in the amplitude of the water reference free induction decay (FID) which was used for zero order phase correction for B0 inhomogeneity and eddy current compensation. The source of the beats was found to be the presence of distinct populations of spins resonating at slightly different frequencies. When the common method of zero order phase correction was implemented using such an FID, the resulting phase-corrected, water-suppressed spectra displayed ringing. Examination of the unwrapped phase correction angle revealed unexpected jumps in phase at points in time corresponding to nodes in the amplitude of the FID. Low-pass filtering of the phase correction angle of the reference FID was found to smooth out these unanticipated phase jumps. When used as a reference for phase correction, the filtered phase information gave a phase-corrected, water-suppressed spectrum free from ringing.