Systems and methods for quantitative susceptibility mapping (“QSM”) using magnetic resonance imaging (“MRf”) and a localized processing technique are described. A field-shift map is processed based on localized regions of local field perturbations. These localized field-shift regions are processed using established QSM algorithms, or using direct dipole inversion techniques, to compute regional susceptibility distributions from the localized field shift information. When the localized regions correspond to subvolumnes of the field-shift map, local susceptibility maps can be generated and combined to form a composite quantitative susceptibility map. By computing regional susceptibility distributions based on localized field-shift information, residual streaking artifacts in the susceptibility map are constrained to the individual volumes from which they originate, thereby eliminating their propagation through the image.
