  Purpose: To examine whether an advanced gradient pre-emphasis approach based
on the gradient system transfer function (GSTF) can mitigate artifacts caused
by residual unbalanced gradients in Cartesian balanced steady-state free
precession (bSSFP) imaging with non-linear line-ordering.
  Theory and Methods: We implemented a gradient pre-emphasis based on the GSTF
for bSSFP sequences with linear, centric and quasi-random ordering of the
phase-encoding steps. Signal-, noise- and artifact levels were determined in
phantom experiments. Furthermore, we simulated the phase accumulating in every
TR interval of a Cartesian bSSFP sequence for the three different line-ordering
schemes.
  Results: The simulations showed that the phase contribution arising from
residual unbalanced phase-encoding gradients are the principal cause of
steady-state disruptions in our sequence. In the phantom experiments, the
GSTF-based gradient pre-emphasis approach reduced the artifact level in bSSFP
images with non-linear line-ordering considerably. Compared to the linearly
ordered measurement, the relative artifact intensity difference dropped by up
to 89 %.
  Conclusion: A GSTF-based pre-emphasis approach can successfully mitigate
residual unbalanced gradient artifacts in bSSFP imaging with non-linear
line-ordering.
