B₀ distribution for global and volume selective shimming of a mid-ventricular short axis view of the heart.

<p><b>A</b>) Mid-ventricular short axis view of the heart illustrating the positioning of the volume (marked in red) used for volume selective shimming. <b>B</b>) B₀ field maps. <b>C</b>) B₀ profile along the direction of the strongest B₀ gradient which is highlighted by the dashed black line in <b>B</b>). To guide the eye the epicardial borders are marked in <b>B</b>) and <b>C</b>) by two triangles. <b>D</b>) Frequency histogram across the left ventricle. After volume selective shimming a strong susceptibility gradient at the inferior region of the heart could be reduced. The full width at half maximum is approximately 300 Hz for the globally shimmed field map and was reduced to about 80 Hz after volume selective shimming.