Magnetic resonance phase contrast angiography with rotating coding gradients

In a method and magnetic resonance (MR) system to generate an MR phase contrast angiography image of an examination subject, velocity-dependent phase information is impressed on moving spins in the examination subject by switching additional bipolar coding gradients that are in addition to the basic phase coding and readout gradients. For the creation of the MR phase contrast angiography images, the MR signals of the examination subject are read out in raw data space with a non-Cartesian acquisition pattern during a readout gradient. The additional bipolar coding gradients switched such that they proceed along a coordinate system that corresponds to the non-Cartesian acquisition pattern, and such that a coordinate axis of this coordinate system proceed along the readout gradient.

Data Driven Methods For Deriving Amplitude-Based Motion Characterizations In PET Imaging

Various systems and methods for generating images are provided. In some embodiments, the techniques can include acquiring a medical image and an associated motion characterization. The motion characterization can then be used to generate a plurality of gated image data sets, sorted by phase in the motion cycle. A new amplitude-based motion characterization curve is derived from the association of phases with amplitude-based characteristics in the phase gated images. This newly derived amplitude-based motion characterization curve can then be used to re-sort data according to amplitude-based gating techniques known in the field or with data driven optimization techniques. 1. A method comprising:acquiring a set of phase gated medical images of a patient collected via a medical imaging procedure; 'wherein the phase-motion amplitude curve is based on the weight factor array of the first principal component;', 'applying a principal component analysis across phases of the set of phase gated medical images to generate a phase-data driven motion amplitude curve describing an amplitude of motion of a patient during the medical imaging procedure as a function of phase of a periodic motion cycle,'}identifying an acceptance window based on variations in weight factor of the non-first principal component fluctuations;determining an optimal segregation of image data based on the phase-motion amplitude curve relative to the acceptance window; andgenerating one or more medical images based on the optimal segregation of the image data.2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the optimal segregation of the image data includes analyzing each point on the phase-motion amplitude curve to assess how many other curve data points are included within the acceptance window.3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the optimal segregation includes:classifying each image based on placement on the phase-motion amplitude curve; andgrouping medical images from the set of phase gated ...

SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF GENERATING ROBUST PHASE IMAGES IN MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGES

A computer-implemented method of correcting phase and reducing noise in magnetic resonance (MR) phase images is provided. The method includes executing a neural network model for analyzing MR images, wherein the neural network model is trained with a pair of pristine images and corrupted images, wherein the corrupted images include corrupted phase information, the pristine images are the corrupted images with the corrupted phase information reduced, and target output images of the neural network model are the pristine images. The method further includes receiving MR images including corrupted phase information, and analyzing the received MR images using the neural network model. The method also includes deriving pristine phase images of the received MR images based on the analysis, wherein the derived pristine phase images include reduced corrupted phase information, compared to the received MR images, and outputting MR images based on the derived pristine phase images. 1. A computer-implemented method of correcting phase and reducing noise in magnetic resonance (MR) phase images , comprising:executing a neural network model for analyzing MR images, wherein the neural network model is trained with a pair of pristine images and corrupted images, wherein the corrupted images include corrupted phase information, the pristine images are the corrupted images with the corrupted phase information reduced, and target output images of the neural network model are the pristine images;receiving MR images including corrupted phase information;analyzing the received MR images using the neural network model;deriving pristine phase images of the received MR images based on the analysis, wherein the derived pristine phase images include reduced corrupted phase information, compared to the received MR images; andoutputting MR images based on the derived pristine phase images.2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the corrupted phase information includes noise in phase images claim 1 , ...

REDUCTION OF EDDY CURRENTS DURING FLOW ENCODED MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING

In a method and magnetic resonance (MR) apparatus for establishing imaging sequence parameter values with a reduced eddy current formation for flow-encoded magnetic resonance imaging, a number of different flow-encoded candidate raw datasets are acquired by executing a flow-encoded gradient measurement sequence with different imaging sequence parameter values from a test or calibration region of an examination object. Flow-encoded candidate image datasets are reconstructed from the different flow-encoded candidate raw datasets. A flow-encoded candidate image dataset is selected as a function of a background phase contrast established in a phase-contrast image assigned to the respective flow-encoded candidate image dataset. The imaging sequence parameter values assigned to the flow-encoded candidate image dataset are selected as parameter values for an imaging sequence for subsequent diagnostic flow-encoded magnetic resonance imaging. 1. A method for establishing imaging sequence parameter values that operate a magnetic resonance (MR) data acquisition scanner with a reduced eddy current formation for flow-encoded MR imaging , said method comprising:operating said MR data acquisition scanner to execute a plurality of flow-encoded gradient measurement sequences, respectively with different imaging sequence parameter values, in order to acquire a plurality of different flow-encoded candidate raw datasets from a test or calibration region of an examination object in the MR data acquisition scanner;providing said different flow-encoded candidate raw datasets to a reconstruction processor and, in said reconstruction processor, reconstructing flow-encoded image datasets respectively from said different flow-encoded candidate raw datasets;in a selection processor, selecting a flow-encoded candidate image dataset, from among said flow-encoded candidate image datasets, dependent on a background phase contrast established in a phase-contrast image assigned to one of said flow- ...

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINATION OF PHASE DISTRIBUTIONS IN MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING

In a method and apparatus for determination of phase distributions in MR imaging, a measured phase distribution of the region of interest is combined with at least one second phase value to form a combination-phase distribution, wherein the phase values of the combination-phase distribution are restricted to a defined presentation interval. A correction-phase distribution is generated, based on a known magnetic field distribution in the region of interest. The phase values thereof are not restricted to the defined presentation interval. A corrected combination-phase distribution is generated using the correction-phase distribution and the combination-phase distribution, in which the phase values are restricted to the defined presentation interval. An absolute combination-phase distribution is generated from the corrected combination-phase distribution, in which the phase values are not restricted to the defined presentation interval. 1. A method for generating magnetic resonance (MR) image data representing a region of interest of an examination subject , said method comprising:operating an MR data acquisition scanner in order to obtain a first measured phase distribution of MR signals acquired from said region of interest;providing said first measured phase distribution of the region of interest to a computer and providing said computer with an input designating at least one second phase value of the region of interest;in said computer, combining said first measured phase distribution and said at least one second phase value in order to generate a combination-phase distribution, wherein phase values of the combination-phase distribution are restricted to a predetermined presentation interval;in said computer, generating a correction-phase distribution, based on a known magnetic field distribution in said scanner in said region of interest, wherein phase values of said correction-phase distribution are not restricted to said predetermined presentation interval;in ...

MAGNETIC-RESONANCE IMAGE DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME

A magnetic resonance imaging diagnostic apparatus includes a generating unit which generates a slice gradient magnetic field, a phase-encode gradient magnetic field and a read-out gradient magnetic field that extend in a slice axis, a phase-encode axis and a read-out axis, respectively, a setting unit which sets a dephase amount for weighting a signal-level decrease resulting from flows in the arteries and veins present in a region of interest of a subject, with respect to at least one axis selected form the slice axis, phase-encode axis and read-out axes, and a control unit which controls the generating unit by using a pulse sequence for a gradient echo system, which includes a dephase gradient-magnetic-field pulse that corresponds to the dephase amount set by the setting unit for the at least one axis. 1. A magnetic resonance imaging diagnostic apparatus comprising:a generating unit which generates a slice gradient magnetic field, a phase-encode gradient magnetic field and a read-out gradient magnetic field that extend in a slice axis, a phase-encode axis and a read-out axis, respectively; anda control unit which performs a first-order rephasing to an nth-order rephasing (wherein n is 2 or a greater integer) on a spin with respect to at least one axis selected from the slice, phase-encode and read-out axes, and which controls the generating unit to achieve a pulse sequence for a gradient echo system in which an echo period is set to a value appropriate for canceling a phase shift of a vein present in a region of interest of a subject.2. The magnetic resonance imaging diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the pulse sequence uses a spin warp method.3. The magnetic resonance imaging diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the pulse sequence is an echo planar planner imaging sequence.4. The magnetic resonance imaging diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:the pulse sequence is an echo-shifted sequence.5. The magnetic resonance ...

Comprehensive Cardiovascular Analysis with Volumetric Phase-Contrast MRI

Processing techniques of volumetric anatomic and vector field data from volumetric phase-contrast MRI on a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system are provided to evaluate the physiology of the heart and vessels. This method includes the steps of: (1) correcting for phase-error in the source data, (2) visualizing the vector field superimposed on the anatomic data, (3) using this visualization to select and view planes in the volume, and (4) using these planes to delineate the boundaries of the heart and vessels so that measurements of the heart and vessels can be accurately obtained. 1. A method of processing volumetric anatomic data and vector field data from volumetric phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data to evaluate the physiology of a heart and vessels , comprising:(a) a computer obtaining said volumetric phase-contrast (MRI) data from a magnetic resonance imaging system, wherein said volumetric phase-contrast (MRI) data comprises said volumetric anatomic data and said vector field data;(b) said computer applying volumetric phase-error correction to said volumetric-phase contrast MRI data;(c) said computer visualizing on a display said corrected volumetric-phase contrast MRI data by superimposing said vector field data on said volumetric anatomic data;(d) using said visualization of (c) to select and view planes in said volumetric phase-contrast (MRI) data; and(e) using said selected planes to delineate boundaries of said heart, said vessels or a combination thereof for said computer to obtain measurements.2. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said volumetric phase-error correction comprises computing multiple image filters from a combination of signal intensity and said vector field data for selecting static tissue to be used in a calculation of parameters of a volumetric phase-error model.3. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said volumetric phase-error correction comprises selecting and excluding spatially-wrapped data from ...

Comprehensive Cardiovascular Analysis with Volumetric Phase-Contrast MRI

Processing techniques of volumetric anatomic and vector field data from volumetric phase-contrast MRI on a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system are provided to evaluate the physiology of the heart and vessels. This method includes the steps of: (1) correcting for phase-error in the source data, (2) visualizing the vector field superimposed on the anatomic data, (3) using this visualization to select and view planes in the volume, and (4) using these planes to delineate the boundaries of the heart and vessels so that measurements of the heart and vessels can be accurately obtained. 1. A computer-implemented method of processing volumetric phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data to evaluate the physiology of a heart and vessels , the method comprising:(a) obtaining the volumetric phase-contrast (MRI) data from a magnetic resonance imaging system, the volumetric phase-contrast (MRI) data comprises volumetric anatomic data for a plurality of time points and vector field data for the plurality of time points; calculating parameters for at least three spatial dimensions of a volumetric phase-error model that is representative of phase-offset error across the plurality of time points by at least combining volumetric-phase contrast MRI data of the plurality of time points; and', 'applying the volumetric phase-error model to the volumetric-phase contrast MRI data for each time point of the plurality of time points, wherein applying the volumetric phase-error model includes applying a same set of calculated parameters of the volumetric phase-error model to the volumetric-phase contrast MRI data for each time point of the plurality of time points; and, '(b) correcting volumetric phase-error by at least(c) displaying on a display the corrected volumetric-phase contrast MRI data by superimposing the vector field data on the volumetric anatomic data.2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the volumetric phase-error correction comprises computing multiple image filters ...

System and Method For Phase-Contrast MRI with Hybrid One-and Two-sided Flow Encoding and Velocity Spectrum Separation (HOTSPA)

A system and method is provided for acquiring flow encoded data from a subject using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. The method includes acquiring flow encoded (FE) data with alternating encoding polarities and along two of three orthogonal directions through the subject over at least two cycles of the flow within the subject; and separating the FE data into directional FE datasets using a temporal filter that separates the FE data based on temporal modulation of the FE directions caused by the alternating encoding polarities extending over the at least two cycles of the flow within the subject that shift the Fourier spectrum of velocity waveforms corresponding to the FE data. The method also includes using the directional FE datasets to generate an image of the subject showing flow within the subject caused by the at least two cycles of flow within the subject. 1. A method for producing magnetic resonance flow images of a subject , the method including steps comprising: [{'sub': '1', 'acquiring a first set of MR data that is flow encoded along a first direction (FE) using a two-sided flow-encoding strategy that is free of flow compensation;'}, {'sub': 2', '3, 'acquiring a second set of MR data that is flow encoded along a second direction (FE) and flow encoded along a third direction (FE) using a hybrid one- and two-sided flow encoding strategy;'}], 'performing, using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, a phase-contrast pulse sequence to acquire imaging data by{'sub': 0', 'v,1, 'separating the first set of MR data into a background phase signal ϕ(t) and a first directional phase signal ϕ(t);'}{'sub': v,2', 'v,3, 'separating the second set of MR data into a second directional phase signal ϕ(t) and a third directional phase signal ϕ(t); and'}{'sub': 0', 'v,1', 'v,2', 'v,3, 'reconstructing flow images of the subject using the background phase signal ϕ(t), the first directional phase signal ϕ(t), the second directional phase signal ϕ(t), the third ...

Phase-contrast mr imaging with speed encoding

MR signals are acquired with a method for phase contrast magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with speed encoding, in order to acquire raw data for multiple MR images. The multiple MR images are reconstructed. For this purpose, matrix elements are determined for numerous matrices, wherein the sum of the numerous matrices results in a pixel matrix. The pixel matrix has matrix elements that represent the pixel values for a reference MR image with flow compensation. The pixel matrix has further matrix elements that represent the pixel values for the at least one MR image with speed encoding. The matrix elements of the numerous matrices are determined such that a first matrix of the numerous matrices fulfills a first condition.

MRI WITH RECONSTRUCTION OF MR PHASE IMAGE

A method for magnetic resonance (MR) phase imaging of a subject includes: (i) for each channel of a multi-channel MRI scanner, acquiring MR measurements at a plurality of voxels of the subject using a pulse sequence that reduces MR measurement phase error; and (ii) for each voxel, determining reconstructed MR phase from the MR measurements of each channel to form an MR phase image of the subject. The step of determining reconstructed MR phase may be performed for each of the voxels independently. 1. A method for magnetic resonance (MR) phase imaging of a subject , comprising:for each channel of a multi-channel MRI scanner, acquiring MR measurements at a plurality of voxels of the subject using a pulse sequence that reduces MR measurement phase error; andfor each voxel, determining reconstructed MR phase from the MR measurements of each channel to form an MR phase image of the subject.2. The method of claim 1 , the pulse sequence including parameters that are at least partially optimized with a phase-error predictor.3. The method of claim 2 , the parameters including at least one of (a) pulse sequence echo times claim 2 , (b) velocity-encoding gradients claim 2 , and (c) motion-encoding gradients.4. The method of claim 1 , the step of determining reconstructed MR phase being performed for each of the voxels independently.5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining claim 1 , at each voxel claim 1 , a tissue property based upon the reconstructed MR phase at the voxel.6. The method of claim 5 , the tissue property being at least one of tissue magnetic susceptibility claim 5 , blood flow in tissue claim 5 , cerebrospinal fluid in tissue claim 5 , tissue elasticity claim 5 , tissue temperature claim 5 , tissue conductivity claim 5 , and tissue oxygenation.7. The method of claim 2 , further comprising claim 2 , prior to the step of acquiring claim 2 , at least partially optimizing the parameters using a phase-error predictor.8. The method of claim 1 , the ...

Method and System for Functional Assessment of Renal Artery Stenosis from Medical Images

A method and system for non-invasive assessment of renal artery stenosis is disclosed. A patient-specific anatomical model of at least a portion of the renal arteries and aorta is generated from medical image data of a patient. Patient-specific boundary conditions of a computational model of blood flow in the portion of the renal arteries and aorta are estimated based on the patient-specific anatomical model. Blood flow and pressure are simulated in the portion of the renal arteries and aorta using the computational model based on the patient-specific boundary conditions. At least one hemodynamic quantity characterizing functional severity of a renal stenosis region is calculated based on the simulated blood flow and pressure in the portion of the renal arteries and aorta. 1. A method for assessment of renal artery stenosis , comprising:generating a patient-specific anatomical model of at least a portion of the renal arteries and aorta from medical image data of a patient;estimating patient-specific boundary conditions of a computational model of blood flow in the portion of the renal arteries and aorta based on the patient-specific anatomical model;simulating blood flow and pressure in the portion of the renal arteries and aorta using the computational model based on the patient-specific boundary conditions; andcalculating at least one hemodynamic quantity characterizing functional severity of a renal stenosis region based on the simulated blood flow and pressure in the portion of the renal arteries and aorta.2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:quantifying at least one inflow and at least one outflow to the portion of the renal arteries and aorta.3. The method of claim 2 , wherein estimating patient-specific boundary conditions of a computational model of blood flow in the portion of the renal arteries and aorta based on the patient-specific anatomical model comprises:determining inlet and outlet boundary conditions using the quantified at least one ...

Medical imaging and efficient sharing of medical imaging information

An MRI image processing and analysis system may identify instances of structure in MRI flow data, e.g., coherency, derive contours and/or clinical markers based on the identified structures. The system may be remotely located from one or more MRI acquisition systems, and perform: error detection and/or correction on MRI data sets (e.g., phase error correction, phase aliasing, signal unwrapping, and/or on other artifacts); segmentation; visualization of flow (e.g., velocity, arterial versus venous flow, shunts) superimposed on anatomical structure, quantification; verification; and/or generation of patient specific 4-D flow protocols. A protected health information (PHI) service is provided which de-identifies medical study data and allows medical providers to control PHI data, and uploads the de-identified data to an analytics service provider (ASP) system. A web application is provided which merges the PHI data with the de-identified data while keeping control of the PHI data with the medical provider.

Phase offset error correction for displacement-encoded mr images

A system includes acquisition of a plurality of displacement-encoded magnetic resonance (MR) phase images, determination of first pixels associated with one or more image regions of the plurality of displacement-encoded MR phase images, determination of representative pixel values of the first pixels based on pixel values of the first pixels within one or more of the plurality of displacement-encoded MR phase images, determination of a relationship between background phase offset error and pixel location based on the determined representative pixel values and the pixel locations of the first pixels, determination of a background phase offset error for each of one or more other pixels of the plurality of displacement-encoded MR phase images based on the relationship and on the pixel locations of the one or more other pixels, and generation of a corrected MR phase image of one of the plurality of displacement-encoded MR phase images based on the background phase offset error determined for each of the one or more other pixels.

Magnetic resonance imaging of aterial structures

The invention provides for a method of operating a magnetic resonance imaging system (100, 200) for imaging a subject (118). The method comprises acquiring (300) tagged magnetic resonance data (144) by controlling the magnetic resonance imaging system with tagging pulse sequence commands (140). The tagging pulse sequence commands comprise a tagging inversion pulse portion (404) for spin labeling a tagging location (122, 122′) within the subject. The tagging pulse sequence commands comprise a phase-contrast readout portion (406). The phase-contrast readout portion comprises phase-contrast encoding in at least one direction. The method further comprises acquiring (302) control magnetic resonance data by controlling the magnetic resonance imaging system with the control pulse sequence commands, wherein the control pulse sequence commands comprise a control inversion pulse portion (500), wherein the control pulse sequence commands comprises the phase-contrast readout portion. The method further comprises reconstructing (304) a tagged magnitude image (148) using the tagged magnetic resonance data. The method further comprises reconstructing (306) a control magnitude image (150) using the control magnetic resonance data. The method further comprises constructing (308) an arterial image (152) by subtracting the control magnitude image and the tagged magnitude image. The method further comprises reconstructing (312) at least one phase image (156, 158, 160) using either the tagged magnetic resonance data and/or the control magnetic resonance data. The at least one phase image is reconstructed using phase encoding in the at least one direction.

SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING IMAGES TO DETECT PROPERTIES OF SKELETAL MUSCLE

Machine readable instructions, a data processing apparatus and a method are provided to determine one or more properties of motor units of skeletal muscle by analyzing a time series of Magnetic Resonance, MR, images representing a slice of a body part to identify signal voids in one or more images of the series. A comparison of at least one characteristic of the identified signal voids in the images is performed with a control data set of MR images produced by applying a controlled stimulus to a motor nerve to establish inherent characteristics of signal voids corresponding to motor units of skeletal muscle. Properties of candidate motor units are analyzed to confirm or reject them as motor units and at least one of: a firing frequency of at least one of the confirmed motor units, a size of at least one of the confirmed motor units, a number of confirmed motor units in a given image area or a shape of at least one of the confirmed motor units is determined. 1. Machine readable instructions stored on a non-transitory machine readable medium , the machine readable instructions upon execution to cause processing circuitry to:receive a time series of Magnetic Resonance, MR, images representing a slice of a body part;analyze the time series of images to identify one or more signal voids in one or more images of the series, a signal void being a localized region of signal attenuation;correlate the identified signal voids with candidate motor units of skeletal muscle, wherein the correlation comprises performing a comparison of at least one characteristic of the identified signal voids in the images with a control data set of MR images produced by applying a controlled stimulus to a motor nerve in control subjects to establish inherent characteristics of signal voids corresponding to motor units of skeletal muscle, the comparison to generate confirmed motor units; andanalyze properties of candidate motor units validated via the comparison as confirmed motor units and ...

Systems and methods for measuring cardiac strain

A method for rapid computation of three-dimensional displacement and Lagrange strain in a high resolution filed of phase data obtained with Displacement Encoding with Stimulated Echoes (DENSE) in magnetic resonance images of the myocardium. The method includes semi-automated segmentation of a region of a heart, phase unwrapping the images in three dimensions, and a custom radial point interpolation method (RPIM). The RPIM is a meshfree numerical analysis method that uses radial basis functions and polynomial functions to calculate the Lagrange strain of DENSE displacement data acquired from the myocardium.

FLUID ANALYSIS APPARATUS, FLUID ANALYSIS METHOD, AND FLUID ANALYSIS PROGRAM

A processor analyzes an image obtained by imaging a subject including a tubular structure in which a fluid flows, thereby deriving fluid information regarding flow of the fluid at each of pixel positions in the tubular structure. The processor derives, within the tubular structure included in the image, a matching degree between the fluid information at a plurality of pixel-of-interest positions set at a first sampling interval and the fluid information at a plurality of pixel positions within a predetermined region based on the pixel-of-interest positions. The processor sets a second sampling interval for displaying the fluid information in accordance with the matching degree. The processor samples the fluid information at the set second sampling interval and causes a display to display the fluid information. 1. A fluid analysis apparatus comprisingat least one processor configured to:analyze an image obtained by imaging a subject including a tubular structure in which a fluid flows, thereby deriving fluid information regarding flow of the fluid at each of pixel positions in the tubular structure;derive, within the tubular structure included in the image, a matching degree between the fluid information at a plurality of pixel-of-interest positions set at a first sampling interval and the fluid information at a plurality of pixel positions within a predetermined region based on the pixel-of-interest positions;set a second sampling interval for displaying the fluid information in accordance with the matching degree; andsample the fluid information at the set second sampling interval, and cause a display to display the fluid information.2. The fluid analysis apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to set the first sampling interval in accordance with a size of a region intersecting a center line of the tubular structure included in the image.3. The fluid analysis apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to set ...

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING APPARATUS AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING METHOD

According to one embodiment, an MRI apparatus includes a data acquiring part and a data processing part. The data acquiring part acquires first and second MR signals by applying at least one IR pulse under an application condition according to a relaxation time of a fluid. The first MR signals include MR signals, having negative values, from the fluid. The second MR signals include MR signals, having positive values, from the fluid. The data processing part generates first and second image data. The first image data depict the fluid as a lower signal region than that of a tissue. The second image data depict the fluid as a higher signal region than that of the tissue. The data processing part generates the first image data with a phase correction based on the second MR signals. 1. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising:a data acquiring part configured to acquire first magnetic resonance signals and second magnetic resonance signals from a same imaging area of an object by applying at least one inversion recovery pulse under an application condition according to a relaxation time of a fluid, the first magnetic resonance signals including magnetic resonance signals, having negative values, from the fluid, the second magnetic resonance signals including magnetic resonance signals, having positive values, from the fluid; anda data processing part configured to generate first image data and second image data based on the first magnetic resonance signals and the second magnetic resonance signals, the first image data depicting the fluid as a lower signal region than a signal region of a tissue, the second image data depicting the fluid as a higher signal region than a signal region of the tissue;wherein said data processing part is configured to generate the first image data with a phase correction based on the second magnetic resonance signals.2. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus of claim 1 ,wherein said data processing part is configured to perform the ...

CEREBROVASCULAR SEGMENTATION FROM MRA IMAGES

There is provided a method of processing a cerebrovascular medical image, the method comprising receiving magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) image associated with a cerebrovascular tissue comprising blood vessels and brain tissues other than blood vessels; segmenting MRA image using a prior appearance model for generating first prior appearance features representing a first-order prior appearance model and second appearance features representing a second-order prior appearance model of the cerebrovascular tissue, wherein current appearance model comprises a 3D Markov-Gibbs Random Field (MGRF) having a 2D rotational and translational symmetry such that MGRF model is 2D rotation and translation invariant; segmenting MRA image using current appearance model for generating current appearance features distinguishing blood vessels from other brain tissues; adjusting MRA image using first and second prior appearance features and current appearance futures; and generating an enhanced MRA image based on said adjustment. There is also provided a system for doing the same. 1. A method of processing a cerebrovascular medical image , the method comprising:receiving a magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) image associated with a cerebrovascular tissue comprising blood vessels and brain tissues other than blood vessels;segmenting the MRA image using a prior appearance model for generating first prior appearance features representing a first-order prior appearance model and second appearance features representing a second-order prior appearance model of the cerebrovascular tissue, wherein the current appearance model comprises a 3D Markov-Gibbs Random Field (MGRF) having a 2D rotational and translational symmetry such that the MGRF model is 2D rotation and translation invariant;segmenting the MRA image using a current appearance model for generating current appearance features distinguishing the blood vessels from the other brain tissues;adjusting the MRA image using the first and ...

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING APPARATUS AND METHOD

An MRI apparatus includes a controller configured to acquire, based on a gradient echo sequence, an MR signal from an object; and an image processor configured to acquire a first image corresponding to a time point when the MR signal has a largest phase variation, acquire a second image corresponding to a time point when the MR signal has a smallest phase variation, and obtain an arterial image including an artery of the object by using the first image and the second image. 1. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus comprising:a controller configured to acquire, based on a gradient echo sequence, an MR signal from an object; andan image processor configured to acquire a first image corresponding to a time point when the MR signal has a largest phase variation, acquire a second image corresponding to a time point when the MR signal has a smallest phase variation, and obtain an arterial image including an artery of the object by using the first image and the second image.2. The MRI apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the phase variation corresponds to a velocity of blood flow in the object.3. The MRI apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the gradient echo sequence comprises a velocity-selective excitation block claim 1 , andthe velocity-selective excitation block sequentially comprises a first radio frequency (RF) pulse having a first flip angle, a velocity encoding gradient, and a second RF pulse having a second flip angle which has a same magnitude as that of the first flip angle and has a different direction than that of the first flip angle.4. The MRI apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the image processor is further configured to acquire k-space data based on the MR signal along a radial trajectory.5. The MRI apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the image processor is further configured to reconstruct a plurality of undersampled images respectively corresponding to different time points based on the acquired k-space data.6. The MRI apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the image ...

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING OF ATERIAL STRUCTURES

The invention provides for a medical imaging system (). The medical imaging system comprises: a memory () for storing machine executable instructions (), and a processor () for controlling the medical imaging system. Execution of the machine executable instructions causes the processor to: receive () a tagged ASL magnitude image () of a region of interest of a subject (); receive () a control ASL magnitude image () of the region of interest of the subject; construct () an arterial image () by subtracting the control ASL magnitude image and the tagged ASL magnitude image; construct () an arterial mask () using the arterial image by identifying arteries in the arterial image; receive () a phase contrast magnetic resonance image () of at least a portion of the region of interest of the subject; and construct a venous image () at least partially by setting voxels of the phase contrast image within the at least a portion of the region of interest that are within the arterial mask to the predetermined background value. 1. A medical imaging system , wherein the medical imaging system comprises:a memory for storing machine executable instructions, and receive a tagged ASL magnitude image of a region of interest of a subject;', 'receive a control ASL magnitude image of the region of interest of the subject;', 'construct an arterial image by subtracting the control ASL magnitude image and the tagged ASL magnitude image;', 'construct an arterial mask using the arterial image by identifying arteries in the arterial image;', 'a phase contrast magnetic resonance image of at least a portion of the region of interest of the subject; and', 'construct a venous image at least partially by setting voxels of the phase contrast image within the at least a portion of the region of interest that are within the arterial mask to the predetermined background value., 'a processor for controlling the medical imaging system, wherein execution of the machine executable instructions causes the ...

MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD

According to one embodiment, a medical image processing apparatus. The apparatus obtains MR dynamic images acquired by MR imaging on a subject, in which a contrast agent has been injected, in accordance with an examination-time imaging condition including magnetic field information, contrast agent information, and/or tissue information. The apparatus sets a standard imaging condition. The apparatus calculates a first index value indicating a temporal change of an MR signal value caused by the contrast agent, the index value being standardized by conversion from the examination-time imaging condition to the standard imaging condition based on the MR dynamic images, the examination-time imaging condition, and the standard imaging condition. 1. A medical image processing apparatus comprising processing circuitry configured to:obtain first dynamic MR images acquired by MR imaging on a subject, in which a contrast agent has been injected, in accordance with an examination-time imaging condition including magnetic field information, contrast agent information, and/or tissue information;set a standard imaging condition including magnetic field information, contrast agent information, and/or tissue information; andcalculate a first index value indicating a temporal change of an MR signal value caused by the contrast agent, the first index value being standardized by conversion from the examination-time imaging condition to the standard imaging condition based on the first dynamic MR images, the examination-time imaging condition, and the standard imaging condition.2. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:calculate a second index value relating to the examination-time imaging condition, which indicates a temporal change of an MR signal value caused by the contrast agent, based on the first dynamic MR images; andcalculate the first index value based on the second index value, the examination- ...

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING APPARATUS AND BLOOD FLOW DRAWING METHOD

To obtain an image having high ability of imaging a blood vessel in each cardiac time phase when performing imaging through a cine-PC method, an MRI apparatus includes a magnetic resonance imaging unit that collects a magnetic resonance signal; a control unit that controls the magnetic resonance imaging unit as per a pulse sequence; and a signal processing unit that prepares an image of a test target by using the magnetic resonance signal collected by the magnetic resonance imaging unit, and time phase information related to a motion of the test target. The control unit has an imaging sequence which serves as the pulse sequence, which includes applying of a flow encoding pulse, and in which an echo signal is acquired for each time phase. An applying amount of the flow encoding pulse in the imaging sequence is controlled so as to be different depending on the time phase. 1. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising:a magnetic resonance imaging unit that collects a magnetic resonance signal;a control unit that controls the magnetic resonance imaging unit as per a pulse sequence; anda computation unit that prepares an image of a test target by using the magnetic resonance signal collected by the magnetic resonance imaging unit, and time phase information related to a cyclic motion of the test target,wherein the control unit has an imaging sequence which serves as the pulse sequence, which includes applying of a flow encoding pulse, and in which an echo signal is acquired for each time phase, andwherein an applying amount of the flow encoding pulse in the imaging sequence is controlled so as to be different in at least two time phases.2. The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:an input unit that receives the time phase information,wherein the control unit controls the imaging sequence by using the time phase information received by the input unit.3. The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 1 ,wherein ...

DYNAMIC CONTRAST ENHANCED MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING WITH FLOW ENCODING

A method for providing magnetic resonance imaging with dynamic contrast and 4D flow of a volume of an object in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system is provided. Contrast agent is provided to the volume of the object. Magnetic resonance excitation from the MRI system is applied to the volume of the object. The MRI system reads out a subsample of less than 10% of spatially resolved data and velocity encoded data with respect to time. The readout subsample is used to determine both dynamic contrast and 4D flow. 1. A method for providing magnetic resonance imaging with dynamic contrast and 4D flow of a volume of an object in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system , comprising:providing contrast agent to the volume of the object;applying magnetic resonance excitation from the MRI system to the volume of the object;reading out by the MRI system a subsample of less than 10% of spatially resolved data and velocity encoded data with respect to time; andusing the readout out subsample to determine both dynamic contrast and 4D flow.2. The method claim 1 , as recited in claim 1 , further comprising displaying both dynamic contrast and 4D flow.3. The method claim 2 , as recited in claim 2 , further comprising using the readout subsample to determine heart function and respiratory function.4. The method claim 3 , as recited in claim 3 , further comprising displaying heart and/or respiratory function at a most optimal contrast-enhancement phase.5. The method claim 3 , as recited in claim 3 , further comprising displaying heart function and respiratory function.6. The method claim 3 , as recited in claim 3 , further comprising displaying dynamic contrast with respiratory movement for any cardiac phase.7. The method claim 3 , as recited in claim 3 , further comprising displaying velocity with respiratory movement for any cardiac phase.8. The method claim 3 , as recited in claim 3 , further comprising displaying respiratory movement with frozen cardiac movement.9. The method ...

System and Method for Phase-Contrast MRI with Hybrid One- and Two-Sided Flow-Encoding and Velocity Spectrum Separation (HOTSPA)

A system and method is provided for acquiring flow encoded data from a subject using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. The method includes acquiring flow encoded (FE) data with alternating encoding polarities and along two of three orthogonal directions through the subject over at least two cycles of the flow within the subject; and separating the FE data into directional FE datasets using a temporal filter that separates the FE data based on temporal modulation of the FE directions caused by the alternating encoding polarities extending over the at least two cycles of the flow within the subject that shift the Fourier spectrum of velocity waveforms corresponding to the FE data. The method also includes using the directional FE datasets to generate an image of the subject showing flow within the subject caused by the at least two cycles of flow within the subject. 1. A method for acquiring flow encoded data from a subject using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system to reconstruct an image of the subject illustrating flow within the subject , the method includes steps comprising:(i) using the MRI system, acquiring flow encoded (FE) data with alternating encoding polarities and along at least two of three orthogonal directions through the subject over at least two cycles of the flow within the subject;(ii) separating the FE data into directional FE datasets using a temporal filter that separates the FE data based on temporal modulation of FE directions caused by the alternating encoding polarities extending over the at least two cycles of the flow within the subject that shift the Fourier spectrum of velocity waveforms corresponding to the FE data; and(iii) using the directional FE datasets, generating an image of the subject showing flow within the subject caused by the at least two cycles of flow within the subject.2. The method of wherein the flow includes vascular flow and the at least two cycles include cardiac cycles.3. The method of wherein step (i ...

Cardiac and Respiratory Self-Gated Motion-Corrected Free-Breathing Spiral Cine Imaging

In some aspects, the present disclosure relates to free-breathing cine imaging of an area of interest of a subject. In one embodiment, a method includes acquiring, during free breathing of the subject, magnetic resonance imaging data corresponding to an area of interest of a subject that comprises the heart, wherein the acquiring comprises applying a pulse sequence with a spiral trajectory. The method also includes performing cardiac self-gating using a self-gating signal extracted from a central region of k-space, and performing respiratory motion correction to compensate for changes in the heart position during respiratory motion, wherein the motion correction comprises rigid or non-rigid registration to determine corrective displacements. The method also includes performing image reconstruction to produce cine images of the area of interest over a plurality of heart-beats. 1. A method for free-breathing cine imaging of an area of interest of a subject , comprising:acquiring, during free breathing of the subject, magnetic resonance imaging data corresponding to an area of interest of a subject that comprises the heart, wherein the acquiring comprises applying a pulse sequence with a spiral trajectory;performing cardiac self-gating using a self-gating signal extracted from a central region of k-space;performing respiratory motion correction to compensate for changes in the heart position during respiratory motion, wherein the motion correction comprises rigid or non-rigid registration to determine corrective displacements; andperforming image reconstruction to produce cine images of the area of interest over a plurality of heart-beats.2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pulse sequence is a gradient echo spiral pulse sequence with a spiral trajectory rotated by the golden angle in time.3. The method of claim 2 , wherein performing the cardiac self-gating comprises extracting the self-gating signal from a fully sampled region of k-space.4. The method of claim 3 , ...

Fluid analysis apparatus, method for operating fluid analysis apparatus, and fluid analysis program

The invention provides a fluid analysis apparatus, a method for operating a fluid analysis apparatus, and a fluid analysis program that display a flow velocity vector such that the tendency of a fluid flow is easily checked. A representative two-dimensional flow velocity vector representing a plurality of two-dimensional flow velocity vectors obtained by projecting three-dimensional flow velocity vectors of a plurality of voxels that overlap each other in a projection direction of a projection plane to the projection plane is acquired from three-dimensional volume data that has information of the three-dimensional flow velocity vector indicating the flow velocity of a fluid in an anatomical structure for each voxel and is displayed.

ADAPTIVE KEYHOLE COMPRESSION FOR DYNAMIC CONTRAST-ENHANCED MRI

A magnetic resonance imaging system () includes a sequence control unit (), a sampling unit (), and a control unit (). The sequence control unit () controls a magnetic resonance scanner () to acquire compressed magnetic resonance data from an imaged region of a subject. The sampling unit () determines a change in a concentration of a contrast agent present in the image region of the subject based on magnetic resonance signals received by a radio frequency receiver. The control unit () adjusts a degree of compression of the acquired magnetic resonance data based on the determination made by the sampling unit (). 1. A magnetic resonance imaging system , comprising:a sequence control unit which controls a magnetic resonance scanner to acquire compressed magnetic resonance data from an imaged region of a subject;a sampling unit which determines a change in a concentration of a contrast agent present in the image region of the subject based on magnetic resonance signals received by a radio frequency receiver; anda control unit which adjusts a degree of compression of the acquired magnetic resonance data based on the determination made by the sampling unit.2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit controls the magnetic resonance scanner to fully sample a central region of k-space and partially sample a peripheral region of k-space.3. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the control unit controls the sequence control unit to adjust a proportion of k-space which is fully sampled.4. The system according claim 2 , wherein the sampling unit determines a rate of change of one or more central data lines of k-space.5. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the sampling unit determines a difference between consecutive central k-space (k) intensities.6. The system according to claim 5 , wherein the control unit adjusts the gradient fields to decrease a central portion of k-space and increase a peripheral portion of k-space in response to an increase in a ...

Aliasing correction in pcmr imaging

In PCMR (phase contrast magnetic resonance) images, velocity aliasing appears when the maximum velocity in the imaging region is larger than the VENC (velocity encoding) value. Without correction, the aliasing will lead to distorted measurements. A method and system for velocity aliasing correction are described in this invention. The aliasing correction can improve the accuracy of flow quantization with the PCMR technique.

IMAGING SYSTEMS AND METHODS

An imaging method may include obtaining imaging data associated with a region of interest (ROI) of an object. The imaging data may correspond to a plurality of time-series images of the ROI. The imaging method may also include determining, based on the imaging data, a data set including a spatial basis and one or more temporal bases. The spatial basis may include spatial information of the imaging data. The one or more temporal bases may include temporal information of the imaging data. The imaging method may also include storing, in a storage medium, the spatial basis and the one or more temporal bases. 1. An imaging system , comprising:at least one storage device including a set of instructions; and obtaining imaging data associated with a region of interest (ROI) of an object, the imaging data corresponding to a plurality of time-series images of the ROI;', 'determining, based on the imaging data, a data set including a spatial basis and one or more temporal bases, the spatial basis including spatial information of the imaging data, the one or more temporal bases including temporal information of the imaging data; and', 'storing, in a storage medium, the spatial basis and the one or more temporal bases., 'at least one processor in communication with the at least one storage device, wherein when executing the set of instructions, the at least one processor is directed to cause the system to perform operations including2. The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the spatial basis and the one or more temporal bases relate to a low-rank model that indicates a correlation between the plurality of time-series images.3. The imaging system of claim 2 , whereinthe spatial basis includes a spatial basis matrix and the one or more temporal bases include a single temporal basis matrix;the spatial basis matrix in combination with the temporal basis matrix represents a low-rank matrix corresponding to a collection of the plurality of time-series images; andelements in the ...

Hybrid One- and Two-Sided Flow-Encoding Only (HOTFEO) for Velocity-Encoding Phase Contrast MRI

A phase-contrast MRI (PC-MRI) system and method employing a Hybrid One- and Two-sided Flow Encoding Only (HOTFEO) acquisition scheme for accurate blood flow and velocity measurements of three-directional-velocity-encoding PC-MRI. 1. An apparatus for time-resolved PC-MRI of a target anatomy , the system comprising:(a) a computer processor; and(b) a non-transitory computer-readable memory storing instructions executable by the computer processor; (i) performing one-sided flow-encoded (FE) MRI acquisition of the target anatomy in a first direction of three orthogonal directions associated with an MRI scanner;', '(ii) performing interleaved, two-sided FE MRI acquisition of the target anatomy in a second direction of the MRI scanner; and', '(iii) generating successive time-resolved FE datasets of the target anatomy from the one-sided FE MRI acquisition and interleaved, two-sided FE MRI acquisition., '(c) wherein said instructions, when executed by the computer processor, perform steps comprising2. The apparatus of :wherein the three orthogonal directions comprise a phase-encoding direction, a frequency-encoding direction and a slice-encoding direction of the scanner; andwherein the interleaved, two-sided FE MRI acquisition is applied in the phase-encoding direction.3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the one-sided FE MRI acquisition is applied in one or more of the frequency-encoding direction and slice-encoding direction.4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein said instructions when executed by the computer processor further perform steps comprising:performing FE MRI acquisition in a third direction of the MRI scanner;wherein one-sided FE MRI acquisition is applied both the frequency-encoding direction and slice-encoding direction.5. The apparatus of :wherein two-sided FE MRI acquisition of the target anatomy is performed in a y-direction associated with the MRI scanner and one-sided FE MRI acquisition is performed in an x-direction associated with the MRI scanner; ...

Automated cardiac volume segmentation

Systems and methods for automated segmentation of anatomical structures, such as the human heart. The systems and methods employ convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to autonomously segment various parts of an anatomical structure represented by image data, such as 3D MRI data. The convolutional neural network utilizes two paths, a contracting path which includes convolution/pooling layers, and an expanding path which includes upsampling/convolution layers. The loss function used to validate the CNN model may specifically account for missing data, which allows for use of a larger training set. The CNN model may utilize multi-dimensional kernels (e.g., 2D, 3D, 4D, 6D), and may include various channels which encode spatial data, time data, flow data, etc. The systems and methods of the present disclosure also utilize CNNs to provide automated detection and display of landmarks in images of anatomical structures.

CINE PHASE CONTRAST SIMULTANEOUS MULTI-SLICE AND MULTI-SLAB IMAGING OF BLOOD FLOW AND CEREBROSPINAL FLUID MOTION

An MRI method and an MRI system that simultaneously detect blood and/or CSF velocity or flow in plural slices or slabs preferably as not spatially adjacent. Two or more sets of interleaved slices or slabs can be assembled to cover the desired volume and derive higher quality MRI signals and images without a need for a contrast agent, even where the volume is too large for effective flow imaging with known techniques without contrast agent. 2. The MRI method of claim 1 , including selecting a direction relative to the subject along which the bipolar velocity encoding magnetic gradient is applied.3. The MRI method of claim 1 , in which at least some of the slices or slabs of the first set partly overlap with slices or slabs of the second set.4. The MRI method of claim 3 , including computer-processing the MRI signals for regions where the first and second set of slices or slabs overlap by blending the signals from the two sets for the overlapped regions to thereby enhance a quality of the signals from said regions.5. The MRI method of claim 1 , in which said slices or slabs are sufficiently thin for unsaturated spins entering one side of each slice or slab to reach the opposite side and thus produce sufficient MRI signals for detecting flow in smaller vessels throughout each slice or slab.6. The MRI method of claim 1 , including applying radial imaging of flow.7. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method that essentially simultaneously detects blood flow and/or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) movement in plural slices or slabs of a subject in an MRI scanner claim 1 , which method includes:applying, to the subject in the MRI scanner, in each of a time succession of phases, a first radio frequency (RF) excitation pulse and a second RF excitation pulse; each of the RF pulses is a multi-band pulse that includes plural frequency bands selectively offset from each other in frequency and/or phase; and', 'the frequency bands in each of the multi-band pulses essentially ...

METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING THE PREDETERMINATION OF THE TIME PROFILE OF A CONTRAST AGENT CONCENTRATION IN DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING USING A MAGNETIC RESONANCE SYSTEM

A method of predetermining the time profile of a contrast agent concentration at a vessel position is provided in the context of contrast agent-enhanced MRI of a region of interest only during the initial flooding-in phase of the contrast agent into the vessel situated in the region of interest. The method includes establishing a broadening of a contrast agent bolus profile according to the equation ΔW=W−W wherein W is a first width of the contrast agent bolus profile at a first vessel position and W is a second width of a contrast agent concentration profile at a second vessel position within the region of interest. The broadening is established by determining at least one flow parameter which is dependent on at least one blood flow property of the patient at a third vessel position thereof and which correlates with the broadening of the contrast agent profile. 1. A method of predetermining a time profile of contrast agent concentration at a position in a blood vessel of a patient in the context of contrast agent-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of a region of interest only during an initial flooding-in phase of the contrast agent into the blood vessel situated in the region of interest , the method comprising:{'b': 2', '1', '1', '2, 'establishing an expected broadening of a contrast agent bolus profile B(t) according to the equation ΔW=W−W wherein W is a first width of the contrast agent bolus profile B(t) at a predetermined first vessel position of the patient and W is a second width of a contrast agent concentration profile K(t) at a predetermined second vessel position situated in the region of interest of the patient;'}such that the expected broadening is established by determining at least one flow parameter which is dependent on at least one blood flow property of the patient at a third vessel position thereof and which correlates with the expected broadening of the contrast agent bolus profile B(t).2. The method according to wherein at least one of ...

Phase Sensitive Magnetic Resonance Angiography

The present invention includes a computerized method of detecting fluid flow in a vessel, the method comprising: obtaining at least one non-contrast enhanced magnetic resonance image from a magnetic resonance imager; performing a phase sensitive reconstruction of the at least one non-contrast enhanced magnetic resonance image using a processor; combining the phase sensitive reconstruction with a velocity selective preparation of the non-contrast enhanced magnetic resonance image, to determine using the processor, in a single acquisition, at least one of: a flow direction of a fluid in the vessel, a reduction or elimination of a background signal, body fat, water/fat separation, or differentiation of a fast moving flow signal from a slow moving flow signal in an opposite direction with suppression of the background signal; and storing or displaying at least one of flow direction or flow strength of the fluid flow in the vessel obtained from the single acquisition. 1. A computerized method of detecting fluid flow in a vessel , the method comprising:obtaining at least one non-contrast enhanced magnetic resonance image from a magnetic resonance imager;performing a phase sensitive reconstruction of the at least one non-contrast enhanced magnetic resonance image using a processor;combining the phase sensitive reconstruction with a velocity selective preparation of the non-contrast enhanced magnetic resonance image, to determine using the processor, in a single acquisition, at least one of: a flow direction of a fluid in the vessel, a reduction or elimination of a background signal, body fat, water/fat separation, or differentiation of a fast moving flow signal from a slow moving flow signal in the opposite direction with suppression of the background signal; andstoring or displaying at least one of flow direction or flow strength of the fluid flow in the vessel obtained from the single acquisition.2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of velocity ...

METHOD FOR PERFORMING AN ANGIOGRAPHIC MEASUREMENT AND CREATING AN ANGIOGRAM

A method is for performing an angiographic measurement and creating an angiogram of a body region of a patient in a magnetic-resonance system and a magnetic-resonance system for operating such a method. In an embodiment, the method includes acquisition of a body region; division of the angiographic measurement into partial angiographic measurements; displaying the measurement start times, the measurement duration and the measurement end times of the partial angiographic measurements; changing the measuring time points; definition of sequence parameters of the partial angiographic measurements based on the changed measurement start times and/or measurement end times such that the partial angiographic measurement is performable between the associated measurement start time and measurement end time; provision of the sequence parameters of the control unit of the magnetic-resonance system; performance of the partial angiographic measurements; and creation of the angiogram using the partial angiographic measurements performed. 1. A method for performing an angiographic measurement and creating an angiogram of a body region of a patient in a magnetic-resonance system , the body region being relatively larger than a maximum field of view of the magnetic-resonance system and the magnetic-resonance system including a control unit for controlling performance of the angiographic measurement and creation of the angiogram , the method comprising:acquiring an anatomical size of the patient and an upper limit and a lower limit of the body region; respectively assigned to a different respective partial measuring range of the body region, no larger than a maximum field of view, and', 'assigned to a respective partial angiographic measurement of the partial angiographic measurements, each of the partial angiographic measurements being assigned respective measuring time points, including at least a respective measurement start time and a respective measurement end time, so that an ...

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SELF-CALIBRATED, NONLINEAR PHASE CONTRAST CORRECTION OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGES

A system and method of self-calibrated correction for residual phase in phase-contrast magnetic resonance (PCMR) imaging data. The method includes receiving PCMR image data from an MR scanner system, segmenting static tissue from non-static cardiovascular elements of the image data, calculating a non-linear fitted-phase basis function, the non-linear fitted-phase basis function based on system artifacts of the PCMR system, adding the non-linear fitted-phase basis function to linear fit terms, and subtracting the result of the adding step from the PCMR imaging data. The system includes a PCMR scanning apparatus configured to provide PCMR image data, a scanner control circuit configured to control the scanning apparatus during image acquisition, the scanner control circuitry in communication with a control processor, the control processor configured to execute computer-readable instructions that cause the control processor to perform the method. A non-transitory computer-readable medium is also disclosed. 1. A method of self-calibrated correction for residual phase in phase-contrast magnetic resonance (PCMR) imaging data , the method comprising:receiving PCMR image data from an MR scanner system;segmenting static tissue from non-static cardiovascular elements of the image data;calculating a non-linear fitted-phase basis function, the non-linear fitted-phase basis function based on physical properties of the MR system;adding the non-linear fitted-phase basis function to linear-fit basis terms; andsubtracting the result of the adding step from the PCMR imaging data.2. The method of claim 1 , removing system artifacts from the PCMR imaging data by applying the non-linear fitted-phase basis function as a self-calibration.3. The method of claim 1 , the linear fit terms including at least one of a constant term and spatial coordinates of relevant pixels of the PCMR imaging data.4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the segmenting step includes:obtaining a fitted phase based on ...

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR QUANTITATIVE T1 DETERMINATION IN MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING

In a method and magnetic resonance (MR) apparatus for quantitative T1 determination in MR imaging, MR data of the volume section are acquired depending on a contrast agent administered in the examined object, wherein the MR data of the volume section are acquired several times during various phases of the diffusion of the contrast agent in the volume section. First MR data of the volume section are acquired with a first sequence and second MR data of the volume section are acquired with a second sequence, wherein the first sequence is distinguished from the second sequence only by the flip angle of at least one RF pulse in the respective sequences and/or only by the repetition time of the respective sequences. Respective T1 values of each voxel of the volume section are determined depending on the first MR data and the second MR data. 1. A method for quantitative T1 determination in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging , comprising:administering a contrast agent to an examination subject;operating an MR data acquisition scanner, while the examination subject is situated therein, to acquire MR data from a selected volume of the examination subject while the contrast agent proceeds through a plurality of diffusion phases in said selected volume;operating said MR data acquisition scanner to acquire said MR data by executing a first data acquisition sequence with which a first set of MR data is acquired from the selected volume and by executing a second data acquisition sequence with which a second set of MR data is acquired from the selected volume, said first and second sequences each comprising at least one radio-frequency (RF) pulse having a flip angle associated therewith, and each having a repetition time, and said first and second sequences differing from each other by a difference selected from the group consisting of only the flip angle associated with the at least one RF pulse, only the repetition time, and only the flip angle of the at least RF pulse and the ...

Systems and methods for free-breathing cine dense mri using self-navigation

Some aspects of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods for free-breathing cine DENSE MRI using self-navigation. In one embodiment, a method includes acquiring magnetic resonance data for an area of interest of a subject, wherein the acquiring comprises performing sampling with phase-cycled, cine displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) during free-breathing of the subject; identifying, from the acquired magnetic resonance data, a plurality of phase-cycling data pairs corresponding to matched respiratory phases of the free-breathing of the subject; reconstructing, from the plurality of phase-cycling data pairs, a plurality of intermediate self-navigation images; performing motion correction by estimating, from the plurality of intermediate self-navigation images, the respiratory position associated with the plurality of phase-cycling data pairs; and reconstructing a plurality of motion-corrected cine DENSE images of the area of interest of the subject.

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMAGING FOUR-DIMENSIONAL FLOW OF A FLUID WITHIN A VOLUME OF AN IMAGED OBJECT

A method for phase-contrast imaging a fluid within a volume of an imaged subject is provided. The method includes acquiring a plurality of slabs, each slab imaging the fluid flowing within a portion of the volume; and volume merging the plurality of slabs to form an image of the volume. Each slab of the plurality is aligned with respect to the volume such that each slab of the plurality is continuously supplied with a plurality of magnetically unsaturated portions of the fluid during acquisition. 1. A method for phase-contrast imaging a fluid within a volume of an imaged subject comprising:acquiring a plurality of slabs, each slab imaging the fluid flowing within a portion of the volume; andvolume merging the plurality of slabs to form an image of the volume;wherein each slab of the plurality is aligned with respect to the volume such that each slab of the plurality is continuously supplied with a plurality of magnetically unsaturated portions of the fluid during acquisition.2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the image is acquired without the use of a contrast agent.3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the image is of a four-dimensional flow of the fluid within the volume.4. The method of claim 1 , wherein acquiring a plurality of slabs claim 1 , each slab imaging the fluid flowing within a portion of the volume claim 1 , comprises:acquiring a k-space with a Cartesian radial or a spiral view-order in ky-kz;acquiring a k-space with a non-Cartesian k-space trajectory; oracquiring a k-space with a slab-interleaved data acquisition.5. The method of claim 1 , wherein volume merging the slabs to form an image of the volume comprises:separately reconstructing each slab of the plurality.6. The method of claim 1 , whereineach slab of the plurality comprises one or more slices each having a phase modulation and an off-slab-center distance;one or more of the slabs share overlapping slices; and phase aligning the overlapping slices at a location within the overlapping slices ...

DIXON MR IMAGING WITH SUPPRESSION OF FLOW ARTIFACTS

The invention relates to a method of MR imaging of a body () of a patient. It is an object of the invention to provide a method that enables efficient compensation of flow artifacts, especially for MR angiography in combination with Dixon water/fat separation. The method of the invention comprises the steps of: a) generating MR echo signals at two or more echo times by subjecting the portion of the body () to a MR imaging sequence of RF pulses and switched magnetic field gradients, wherein the MR imaging sequence is a Dixon sequence; b) acquiring the MR echo signals; c) reconstructing one or more single-echo MR images from the MR echo signals; d) segmenting the blood vessels from the MR images; e) detecting and compensating for blood flow-induced variations of the amplitude or phase in the single-echo MR images within the blood vessel lumen, and f) separating signal contributions from water and fat spins to the compensated single-echo MR images. Moreover, the invention relates to a MR device () and to a computer program for a MR device (). 1. A method of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of a portion of a patient's body placed in an examination volume of a MR device , the method comprising:a) generating MR echo signals at two or more echo times by subjecting the portion of the body to a MR imaging sequence of RF pulses and switched magnetic field gradients, wherein the MR imaging sequence is a Dixon sequence;b) acquiring the MR echo signals;c) reconstructing two or more single-echo MR images, one for each of the two or more echo times from the MR echo signals;d) segmenting blood vessels from the MR images;e) detecting and compensating for blood flow-induced variations of the amplitude or phase in the single-echo MR images within the blood vessel lumen; andf) separating signal contributions from water and fat spins to the compensated single-echo MR images.2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:determining or predicting positions of blood flow- ...

Method for Correction of Phase-Contrast Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data Using a Neural Network

A method is disclosed for phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) comprising: acquiring phase contrast 3D spatiotemporal MRI image data; inputing the 3D spatiotemporal MRI image data to a three-dimensional spatiotemporal convolutional neural network to produce a phase unwrapping estimate; generating from the phase unwrapping estimate an integer number of wraps per pixel; and combining the integer number of wraps per pixel with the phase contrast 3D spatiotemporal MRI image data to produce final output. 1acquiring phase contrast 3D spatiotemporal MRI image data;inputing the 3D spatiotemporal MRI image data to a three-dimensional spatiotemporal convolutional neural network to produce a phase unwrapping estimate;generating from the phase unwrapping estimate an integer number of wraps per pixel;combining the integer number of wraps per pixel with the phase contrast 3D spatiotemporal MRI image data to produce final output.. A method for phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the method comprising: This application claims priority from US Provisional Patent Application 62/821559 filed Mar. 21, 2019, which is incorporated herein by reference.This invention was made with Government support under contracts EB026136 and EB009690 awarded by the National Institutes of Health. The Government has certain rights in the invention.The present invention relates generally to methods for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). More specifically, it relates to methods for phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) encodes tissue velocity information into the phase of the acquired image data, allowing for accurate quantification of blood flow for a variety of clinical applications.Specifically, cardiac 4D flow MRI enables retrospective valve tracking, velocity profiling, and advanced flow pattern visualization. These evaluation techniques are used to identify symptoms of valvular heart disease, such as stenoses and ...

PERFORATOR PHASE CONTRAST ANGIOGRAPHY (pPCA)

The present disclosure is directed to methods and systems for fusing Phase Contrast Angiography (PCA) with anatomic images to create a perforator PCA (pPCA) data set. In the pPCA) method, vascular and anatomic information may be provided by different MRI sequences. A four-point acquisition scheme may be used for 3D PCA acquisition of vascular images. Anatomical MRI images are acquired and may be enhanced with image post-processing techniques. The vascular and anatomical images may be combined with image fusion to create a high resolution map of abdominal wall vasculature. This high resolution map visualizes not only the size and location of the DIEP perforators, but also their relationship with surrounding tissue, and the blood flow velocity within them. As such, the fused pPCA image has substantially higher SNR and CNR than CTA image of the same slice thickness. 1. A method for Phase Contrast Angiography (pPCA) , comprising:acquiring vascular and flow information using a first MRI sequence;acquiring anatomic information using a second MRI sequence;reversing a contrast of the anatomic information to create reversed anatomic information; andcreating a high resolution map of vasculature from the reversed anatomic information and vascular and flow information.2. The method of claim 1 , the first MRI sequence being performed using a phased-array receiver coil having a predetermined number of coil elements to provide a penetration depth within a layer of subcutaneous tissue near the coil surface.3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the phased-array receiver coil provides for visualization of perforator vessels with submillimeter resolution.4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising applying motion control techniques when imaging body parts that are prone to physiologic or voluntary motions.5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the phased-array receiver coil is positioned in close proximity to a body part of interest.6. The method of claim 1 , acquiring the vascular and ...

COMBINED OXYGEN UTILIZATION, STRAIN, AND ANATOMIC IMAGING WITH MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING

An apparatus to jointly measure oxygen utilization and tissue strain includes an imaging system and a computer processor operatively coupled to the imaging system. The computer processor is configured to control the imaging system to perform a pulse sequence on tissue of a subject. The computer processor also acquires oxygen utilization data and strain data responsive to the pulse sequence. The computer processor further determines an amount of strain on the tissue of the subject based at least in part on the strain data and an amount of oxygen utilization of the tissue of the subject based at least in part on the oxygen utilization data. 1. An apparatus to jointly measure oxygen utilization and tissue strain , the apparatus comprising:an imaging system; and control the imaging system to perform a pulse sequence on tissue of a subject;', 'acquire oxygen utilization data and strain data responsive to the pulse sequence; and', 'determine an amount of strain on the tissue of the subject based at least in part on the strain data and determine an amount of oxygen utilization of the tissue of the subject based at least in part on the oxygen utilization data., 'a computer processor operatively coupled to the imaging system, wherein the computer processor is configured to2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the pulse sequence is performed during a breath-hold period during which the subject holds his or her breath.3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the computer processor is also configured to acquire anatomic image data responsive to the pulse sequence.4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the computer processor is configured to generate an oxygen extraction fraction map that has pixel values associated with oxygen utilization in the tissue of the subject.5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the computer processor is configured to generate a strain map that has pixel values associated with strain in the tissue of the subject.6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the ...

METHOD OF DETECTING MICROBUBBLES IN A VESSEL

The present invention provides a method of detecting microbubbles in a vessel of an affected part, comprising aggregating the microbubbles, acquiring phase-contrast magnetic resonance images and analyzing the phase-contrast magnetic resonance images. Thus, the present invention can detect or monitor the size and location of MBs in vessels of any part of body. 1. A method of detecting microbubbles in a vessel of an affected part , comprising:delivering an ultrasonic energy within the affected part to aggregate the microbubbles to form a plurality of aggregated microbubbles;acquiring a phase-contrast magnetic resonance image by a magnetic resonance device; andanalyzing the phase-contrast magnetic resonance image to obtain a velocity value of each pixel of a region of interest in the phase-contrast magnetic resonance image,wherein the plurality of aggregated microbubbles is located at a pixel that the velocity value is within the lowest 10%.2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:analyzing the phase-contrast magnetic resonance image to obtain a vorticity value of each pixel of the region of interest,wherein the plurality of aggregated microbubbles is located at a pixel that the velocity value is within the lowest 10% and the vorticity value is −0.18 to 0.18.3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the region of interest is an area of the vessel.4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the microbubbles have a diameter of 1-1.5 μm.5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the microbubbles were substantially composed of CFgas or CFdroplet core encapsulated by a lipid shell.6. The method as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the microbubbles further comprise a drug for treating the affected part.7. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the ultrasonic energy has a frequency of 0.83-1.25 MHz and an acoustic pressure of 0.2-0.12 MPa.8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the phase-contrast magnetic resonance image is a plurality of phase- ...

METHOD FOR IMPROVED DYNAMIC CONTRAST ENHANCED IMAGING USING TRACER-KINETIC MODELS AS CONSTRAINTS

Tracer kinetic models are utilized as temporal constraints for highly under-sampled reconstruction of DCE-MRI data. The method is flexible in handling any TK model, does not rely on tuning of regularization parameters, and in comparison to existing compressed sensing approaches, provides robust mapping of TK parameters at high under-sampling rates. In summary, the method greatly improves the robustness and ease-of-use while providing better quality of TK parameter maps than existing methods. In another embodiment, TK parameter maps are directly reconstructed from highly under-sampled DCE-MRI data. This method provides more accurate TK parameter values and higher under-sampling rates. It does not require tuning parameters and there are not additional intermediate steps. The proposed method greatly improves the robustness and ease-of-use while providing better quality of TK parameter maps than conventional indirect methods. 1. A method for improving dynamic contrast enhanced imaging , the method comprising:a) administering a magnetic resonance contrast agent to a subject;b) collecting magnetic resonance imaging data from the subject, the magnetic resonance imaging data including (k,t)-space data from a plurality of receiver coils;c) selecting a tracer kinetic model to be applied to the magnetic resonance imaging data, the tracer kinetic model being defined by a plurality of tracer kinetic parameters; andd) applying the tracer kinetic model to estimate tracer kinetic parameter maps.2. The method of wherein the magnetic resonance imaging data includes under-sampled (k claim 1 ,t)-space data from a plurality of receiver coils.3. The method of wherein the (k claim 2 ,t)-space data are obtained from dynamic anatomic images by a Fourier transform claim 2 , receiver coil sensitivity maps claim 2 , and/or sampling pattern.4. The method of wherein step d) starts with an initial guess of the tracer kinetic parameter maps.5. The method of providing a direct reconstruction of ...

4D VELOCITY PROFILE IMAGE RECORDING WITH A MAGNETIC RESONANCE SYSTEM

In a method and device for generating 4D flow images by operation of a magnetic resonance system, a volume flow data record is recorded, wherein the flow is encoded in a single direction. This is subsequently repeated with all the flow encoding directions. From the raw data associated with the individual flow encoding directions, phase images and magnitude images are calculated. Deformation fields are calculated on the basis of the magnitude images. The deformation fields are applied to the calculated phase images. Finally, a 4D flow velocity field is calculated, on the basis of a phase difference reconstruction of the corrected phase images. 1. A method for generating 4D flow images using acquired magnetic resonance (MR) data , comprising:operating an MR scanner to acquire a volume flow data record representing flow of a flowing medium in an examination subject situated in the MR scanner, including operating a gradient coil arrangement of the MR scanner to encode MR signals originating from said flow in a single flow encoding direction;operating said MR scanner to repeat acquiring said volume flow data record with said gradient coil arrangement being operated to encode said MR signals originating from said flow in a plurality of different flow encoding directions;providing said volume flow data record, after repeating acquiring said volume flow data record, to a processor and, in said processor, reconstructing phase images from said volume flow data record, each phase image being respectively associated with a different flow encoding direction;in said processor, reconstructing magnitude images from said volume flow data record, each of said magnitude images being respectively associated with a respective flow encoding direction;in said processor, calculating deformation fields from said magnitude images;in said processor, applying the calculated deformation fields to the reconstructed phase images, thereby obtaining a plurality of corrected phase images;in said ...

METHODS FOR CO-IMAGING TISSUE STIFFNESS AND BLOOD FLOW IN AN MRI SCAN

Techniques for co-imaging tissue stiffness and blood flow using a single MRI scan are disclosed. The methods use a combined gradient waveform that provides adequate sensitivity for concurrent encodings of flow and tissue stiffness. During a scan, the application of the combined gradient waveform, in the presence of an applied oscillatory motion, simultaneously encodes both flow and stiffness information into the phase of the resulting MRI image. To separate the flow information from the tissue displacement caused by the oscillatory motion, a Fourier transform applied along the direction of applied oscillatory motion. After the transformation, baseband information (flow velocity) may be separated from modulated information (tissue displacement). The separated data may be used to create a velocity map and a displacement map, which can then be converted to a stiffness map. 1. A method for simultaneously encoding oscillatory tissue motion and fluid flow in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquisition , the method comprising:applying an oscillatory motion to tissues located within an MRI field of view, the oscillatory motion creating shear waves in the tissues;applying a motion encoding gradient (MEG) waveform to encode the shear waves into spin phase;applying a velocity encoding gradient (VEG) waveform to encode fluid flow into spin phase;creating a combined gradient waveform that is a weighted combination of the MEG waveform and the VEG waveform; andapplying a combined gradient (CG) waveform to one or more gradients in a pulse sequence for the MRI acquisition.2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pulse sequence is a spin-echo (SE) based pulse sequence or a gradient-recalled echo (GRE) based pulse sequence.3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the CG waveform is applied to the one or more gradients in the pulse sequence after a 90 degree radio-frequency (RF) pulse and before a readout gradient.4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or ...

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING APPARATUS AND A METHOD FOR DETERMINING TRIGGER TIMING OF CE-MRA SCAN

The present invention discloses an apparatus and a method for determining a trigger timing of a CE-MRA scan. The apparatus comprises: a blood flow velocity acquisition unit configured to acquire a blood flow velocity of a target vessel; and a trigger timing determination unit configured to determine the trigger timing for performing the CE-MAR scan on a CE-MRA scan region according to the blood flow velocity and a predetermined image acquisition condition during a monitoring scan. The apparatus and method take the blood flow velocity into consideration, and can determine the trigger timing of the CE-MRA scan automatically and accurately. 1. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus for determining a trigger timing of a Contrast Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Angiography (CE-MRA) scan , comprising:a blood flow velocity acquisition unit configured to acquire a blood flow velocity of a target vessel; anda trigger timing determination unit configured to determine the trigger timing for performing the CE-MAR scan on a CE-MRA scan region according to the blood flow velocity and a predetermined image acquisition condition during a monitoring scan.2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the blood flow velocity acquisition unit is further configured to receive the blood flow velocity of the target vessel from outside.3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the blood flow velocity acquisition unit comprises:an image acquisition unit configured to acquire a plurality of time-phase images obtained by the monitoring scan on a monitor region; anda blood flow velocity detection unit configured to detect the blood flow velocity of the target vessel using the plurality of time-phase images.4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image acquisition condition includes the type of a sequence for the CE-MRA scan claim 1 , and the trigger timing determination unit comprises:a scan lead time determination unit configured to determine a sequence switching time ...

BAYESIAN MODEL FOR HIGHLY ACCELERATED PHASE-CONTRAST MRI

Methods and systems for accelerated Phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC-MRI). The technique is based on Bayesian inference and provides for fast computation via an approximate message passing algorithm. The Bayesian formulation allows modeling and exploitation of the statistical relationships across space, time, and encodings in order to achieve reproducible estimation of flow from highly undersampled data. 1. A method of image acquisition and reconstruction in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus , comprising:acquiring undersampled phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC-MRI) data using Variable density incoherent spatiotemporal acquisition (VISTA) sampling;modeling the PC-MRI data in accordance with statistical relationships across space, time and encodings;performing an image reconstruction from modeled PC-MRI data; anddisplaying reconstructed images.2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the modeling is a Bayesian modeling that is visualized as a factor graph.3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising applying a sum-product rule using message passing on the factor graph representation of the PC-MRI data.4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising determining approximate marginal posterior distributions of x claim 3 , x claim 3 , θ claim 3 , and v claim 3 ,{'sub': b', 'v', 'v, 'wherein xrepresents an image associated with a velocity-compensated measurement, wherein xrepresents an image associated with a velocity-encoded measurement, where θrepresents a velocity-encoded phase, and wherein v represents a Bernoulli random variable.'}5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the modeling is a Bayesian data model that provides for automatic tuning of at least one parameter associated with the image reconstruction.6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the at least one parameter includes a prior probability of flow at each pixel and frame claim 5 , and a variability between encodings.7. The method of claim 1 , wherein PC-MRI data is acquired in a single ...

INTRINSIC NAVIGATION FROM VELOCITY-ENCODING GRADIENTS IN PHASE-CONTRAST MRI

A method for an object in a magnetic resonance image (MRI) system for providing at least one velocity indicative magnetic resonance image (MRI) with motion correction of the object is provided. Velocity encoding gradients in at least one spatial direction are provided from the MRI system. Spatial frequency data resulting from the encoding gradients are acquired through the MRI system. Image signals are provided by the MRI system. Image data resulting from the image signals are acquired through the MRI system. At least one motion corrected and velocity indicative magnetic resonance image is created from the acquired spatial frequency data and image data. 1. A method for an object in a magnetic resonance image (MRI) system for providing at least one velocity indicative magnetic resonance image (MRI) with motion correction of the object , comprising:providing from the MRI system velocity encoding gradients in at least one spatial direction;acquiring through the MRI system spatial frequency data resulting from the encoding gradients;providing from the MRI system image signals;acquiring through the MRI system image data resulting from the image signals; andcreating at least one motion corrected and velocity indicative magnetic resonance image from the acquired spatial frequency data and image data.2. The method claim 1 , as recited in claim 1 , wherein part of the velocity encoding gradient is a navigator signal.3. The method claim 2 , as recited in claim 2 , wherein the MRI system comprises a plurality of channels claim 2 , and wherein a different spatially-localized navigator signal is provided for each channel.4. The method claim 3 , as recited in claim 3 , wherein the creating the from the MRI system at least one motion corrected and velocity indicative MRI claim 3 , comprises:determining displacement;using the determined displacement for motion correction.5. The method claim 4 , as recited in claim 4 , wherein the providing from the MRI system velocity encoding ...

METHOD FOR POST-PROCESSING FLOW-SENSITIVE PHASE CONTRAST MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGES

A method for generating fluid flow images of a region of interest is disclosed. The method includes: scanning the region of interest to acquire a set of 4D-Flow magnetic resonance images, wherein the set comprises an anatomical magnitude image, a first velocity component image, a second velocity component image, and a third velocity component image; isolating the anatomical magnitude image, the first velocity component image, the second velocity component image, and the third velocity component image from the set of 4D-Flow magnetic resonance images; converting the first, second, and third velocity component images into a velocity vector field; modeling a location of an anatomical wall within the region of interest; calculating at least one flow dynamics parameter for the region of interest; and generating a visual representation of the anatomical wall and the at least one flow dynamics parameter. 1. A method for processing flow sensitive data of a region of interest , the method comprising:scanning the region of interest to acquire at least one image;isolating each of the at least one image; andconverting the at least one image into a velocity vector field.2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one image is at least one set of 4D-Flow magnetic resonance images.3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least one set of 4D-Flow magnetic resonance images comprises an anatomical magnitude image and at least one velocity component image.4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least one set of 4D-Flow magnetic resonance images includes a first velocity component image claim 2 , a second velocity component image claim 2 , and a third velocity component image.5. The method of claim 4 , wherein each of the first velocity component image claim 4 , the second velocity component image claim 4 , and the third velocity component image are converted into a respective first velocity vector field claim 4 , a respective second velocity vector field claim 4 , and a ...

METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING

The present disclosure relates to a system and method for MRI with respect to vessels and bleedings. The method may include exciting a region of interest by applying an RF pulse, wherein the region of interest includes a vessel region and a bleeding region. The method may further include acquiring a plurality of echo signals related to the region of interest. The method may further include generating one or more magnitude images based on the plurality of echo signals, generating a first image with respect to the vessel region based on the one or more magnitude images, generating one or more phase images based on the plurality of echo signals, and generating a second image with respect to a distribution of susceptibility of the bleeding region based on the one or more phase images. 110.-. (canceled)11. A method implemented on a computing device having at least one processor and a storage , for magnetic resonance imaging , the method comprising:acquiring a plurality of echo signals by applying at least a multi-echo imaging sequence to a region of interest, the region of interest including a vessel region and a bleeding region;generating a first image with respect to the vessel region based on the plurality of echo signals;generating a second image with respect to a distribution of susceptibility of the bleeding region based on the plurality of echo signals; andreconstructing a third image with respect to the region of interest based on the first image and the second image.12. The method of claim 11 , wherein acquiring the plurality of echo signals further comprises:applying one or more flow refocused gradients and one or more flow dephasing gradients along at least one of a slice select direction, a readout direction, or a phase encoding direction.13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of echo signals are generated in response to the one or more flow refocused gradients or the one or more flow dephasing gradients.14. The method of claim 11 , further ...

METHOD FOR PERFORMING AN ANGIOGRAPHIC MEASUREMENT

A method is for performing an angiographic measurement of a main measurement region of a patient via a magnetic resonance system. An embodiment of the method includes performing at least one overview measurement to generate overview-measurement data; defining, using the overview-measurement data, the main measurement region and a first measurement region, the first measurement region differing from the main measurement region; performing a first time-resolved measurement in the first measurement region defined to generate first time-resolved measurement data; detecting an injected contrast agent bolus in the first measurement region using the first time-resolved measurement data; determining a flow rate of the injected contrast agent bolus detected; setting at least one measurement parameter of the angiographic measurement according to the flow rate determined; and performing the angiographic measurement of the main measurement region of the patient in the magnetic resonance system using the at least one measurement parameter set. 1. A method for performing an angiographic measurement of a main measurement region of a patient via a magnetic resonance system , the method comprising:performing, via the magnetic resonance system, at least one overview measurement to generate overview-measurement data;defining, using the overview-measurement data, the main measurement region and a first measurement region, the first measurement region differing from the main measurement region;performing, via the magnetic resonance system, a first time-resolved measurement in the first measurement region defined to generate first time-resolved measurement data;detecting an injected contrast agent bolus in the first measurement region using the first time-resolved measurement data;determining a flow rate of the injected contrast agent bolus detected;setting at least one measurement parameter of the angiographic measurement according to the flow rate determined; andperforming the ...

Data Driven Methods For Deriving Amplitude-Based Motion Characterizations In PET Imaging

Various systems and methods for generating images are provided. In some embodiments, the techniques can include acquiring a medical image and an associated motion characterization. The motion characterization can then be used to generate a plurality of gated image data sets, sorted by phase in the motion cycle. A new amplitude-based motion characterization curve is derived from the association of phases with amplitude-based characteristics in the phase gated images. This newly derived amplitude-based motion characterization curve can then be used to re-sort data according to amplitude-based gating techniques known in the field or with data driven optimization techniques. 120-. (canceled)21. A data-driven gating method comprising:acquiring a set of phase-gated medical images collected via a medical imaging procedure on a patient;applying a correlative analysis across phases of the set of phase-gated medical images to generate a motion amplitude curve describing an amplitude of motion of the patient during the medical imaging procedure as a function of phase of a periodic motion cycle;identifying an acceptance window based on fluctuations in at least one of: phase, or amplitude;segregating image data based on the motion amplitude curve relative to the acceptance window; andgenerating one or more medical images based on the segregating of image data.22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the correlative analysis applied is a principal component analysis.23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the principal component analysis of the set of phase gated medical images includes identifying a set of pixels across each medical image in the set of phase gated medical images representing a common point of interest.24. The method of claim 21 , wherein applying the correlative analysis comprises applying a principal component analysis to generate a set of principal components that includes a first principal component and a non-first principal component.25. The method of claim 24 , ...

Fuel Injection Pump

A fuel injection pump for a diesel engine, including: a control rack an in a rack chamber formed between a pump head and a pump housing, and configured to adjust a fuel injection amount; a transmission shaft rotatably supported by a transmission shaft hole formed in the pump housing; and a lubricating oil passage formed in the pump housing, and configured to pressure-feed lubricating oil between the transmission shaft and the transmission shaft hole. The transmission shaft has an oil passage therein through which passage the lubricating oil pressure-fed to the lubricating oil passage partially passes, a first opening of the oil passage is communicated with the lubricating oil passage, and a second opening of the oil passage is formed on the outer circumferential surface of an upper portion of the transmission shaft, nearby the control rack. 1. A fuel injection pump to be provided in an engine , comprising:a transmission shaft supported by a pump housing, an oil passage,', 'and', 'an opening of the oil passage, wherein said opening is formed on an outermost circumferential surface of an upper portion of the transmission shaft., 'wherein the transmission shaft includes2. The fuel injection pump to be provided in an engine according to claim 1 , further comprising:a lubricating oil passage formed in the pump housing, wherein the lubricating oil passage and the oil passage communicate through another opening separate from said opening.3. The fuel injection pump according to claim 2 , wherein the oil passage includes:a groove formed in the outer circumferential surface of the transmission shaft in an axial direction thereof, the groove including said another opening;a communication path opened on a wall portion of the groove, and formed in a radial direction of the transmission shaft; anda supply hole communicated with the communication path and formed from substantially an axial center portion of the transmission shaft to said opening.4. The fuel injection pump ...

EXAMINING BLOOD FLOW PATTERNS IN THE BLOOD VESSELS OF A PATIENT USING PHASE CONTRAST MRI

The invention relates to a technique for examining blood flow patterns in the blood vessels of a patient (), the technique having the following features: collecting raw data from a time- and space-resolved MRI phase contrast measurement of the cardiovascular system of a patient or parts thereof (), or reading such data or data determined therefrom via an input interface (), and calculating at least one primary variable which quantifies the blood flow pattern; carrying out multi-plane reconstructions on the basis of at least one calculated primary variable along a defined path () which reproduces the course of a blood vessel of the patient () to obtain a local distribution of the at least one primary variable in the vessel cross-section; and calculating and outputting at least one secondary variable which quantifies the blood flow pattern as a function of the position along the course of the vessel on the basis of the at least one primary variable after carrying out the multi-plane reconstructions. 1. A method for examining blood flow patterns in a blood vessel of a patient , comprising:a) capturing raw data of a time- and space-resolved MRI phase-contrast measurement of a cardiovascular system of a patient or parts thereof, or reading the raw data and/or data determined therefrom by way of an input interface, and calculating at least one primary quantity that quantifies a the blood flow pattern;b) performing multiplanar reconstructions along a set path on a basis of the at least one primary quantity calculated in method step (a), said set path reproducing a course of a blood vessel of the patient, to obtain a spatial distribution of the at least one primary quantity in a vessel cross section of the blood vessel;c) calculating and outputting at least one secondary quantity which quantifies the blood flow pattern as a function of position along the course of the blood vessel on the basis of the at least one primary quantity following the performance of the multiplanar ...

Method and MRI for referenceless flow imaging

An MRI includes a computer. The MRI includes imaging coils in communication with the computer that apply imaging gradients and radiofrequency transition pulses to a moving portion of the patient. The MRI includes detector coils in communication with a computer that obtain a single image component series representing velocity information of the moving portion of the patient in k-space of one cardiac cycle. The MRI includes a memory in communication with the detector coils in the computer which stores the single image component series. The computer forms an image from the single image component series stored in the memory without any comparison of any image component of the series. A method for using an MRI with a patient includes the steps of obtaining a single image component series representing velocity information of a moving portion of the patient in k-space of one cardiac cycle with imaging coils and detector coils of the MRI. There is the step of forming with a computer of the MRI an image from the single image component series stored in a memory without any comparison of any image component of the series.

医学成像和医学成像信息的有效共享

MRI图像处理和分析系统可以识别MRI流数据(例如相干性)中的结构的实例，基于所识别的结构，导出轮廓和/或临床标记。所述系统可以远离一个或更多个MRI获取系统设置，并且执行：执行对MRI数据集的误差检测和/或校正(例如，相位误差校正、相位混叠、信号解缠，和/或对其他伪影)；分割；叠加在解剖结构上的流(例如速度、动脉对静脉流、分流)的可视化；量化；验证；和/或生成特定患者的4D流协议。异步命令和成像数据通道允许以及时和安全的方式甚至在复杂或者大的医学成像数据集和元数据的情况下进行远程图像处理和分析。

Compressed sensing MR image reconstruction using constraint from prior acquisition

本发明涉及一种用于对置于MR设备（1）的检查体积内的患者的身体（10）的至少部分进行MR成像的方法，所述方法包括以下步骤：‑使所述的身体（10）的部分经受第一成像序列，以采集第一信号数据集（21）；‑使所述身体（10）的部分经受第二成像序列，以采集第二信号数据集（23），其中，所述第二成像序列的成像参数不同于所述第一成像序列的成像参数；‑采用所述第一信号数据集（21）作为先验信息借助于正则化从所述第二信号数据集（23）重建MR图像。此外，本发明涉及一种MR设备（1）和用于所述MR设备（1）的计算机程序。

Medical image processing system and method for personalized brain disease diagnosis and status determination

본 발명은 비침습적 자기공명영상을 이용하여 영상을 획득하고 뇌조직과 뇌혈관의 복합적 영상 분석을 하여 현재 뇌의 상태와 질병별 위험도, 질병의 예측이 가능하도록 한 개인 맞춤형 뇌질병 진단 및 상태 판정을 위한 의료 영상 처리 시스템 및 방법에 관한 것으로, 3차원 T1 구조 영상(3D T1 Weighted Image), 2차원 T2 FLAIR(2D T2 fluid attenuated inversion recovery) 영상, 뇌혈관 이상을 확인하기 위해 혈관만을 영상화하는 MRA(Magnetic Resonance Angiogram) 영상 및 혈관에 흐르는 혈류의 상태를 파악하기 위한 4차원 위상 대조도 흐름(Phase-contrast Flow) 영상을 획득하는 영상 처리부;진단 대상 질병을 선택하고 그에 따른 뇌 영역을 설정하여 뇌조직(brain tissue), 뇌혈관(vessel) 분석을 수행하는 복합 영상 분석부;연령대별 한국인 데이터 DB를 활용하여 기계학습(machine learning) 알고리즘으로 뇌상태, 질병별 위험도, 발병 가능성, 질병 예측 결과를 출력하는 개인별 진단 및 결과 출력부;를 포함하는 것이다. The present invention relates to a personalized brain disease diagnosis and condition determination method capable of acquiring images using noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging and performing a complex image analysis of brain tissue and cerebral blood vessels to predict current brain conditions, (3D) T1 structured image (2D T1 weighted image), 2D T2 FLAIR (2D T2 fluid attenuated inversion recovery) image, and MRA (Phase-contrast Flow) image for acquiring the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Angiogram) image and the blood flow state in the blood vessel by selecting a disease to be diagnosed, A complex image analysis unit for performing brain tissue and cerebrovascular analysis; machine learning using a Korean data DB for each age group; In brain state, and individual diagnosis result output section for outputting a disease-specific risk, onset possibility, the condition forecasts; intended to include.

Medical imaging and efficient sharing of medical imaging information

An MRI image processing and analysis system may identify instances of structure in MRI flow data, e.g., coherency, derive contours and/or clinical markers based on the identified structures. The system may be remotely located from one or more MRI acquisition systems, and perform: perform error detection and/or correction on MRI data sets (e.g., phase error correction, phase aliasing, signal unwrapping, and/or on other artifacts); segmentation; visualization of flow (e.g., velocity, arterial versus venous flow, shunts) superimposed on anatomical structure, quantification; verification; and/or generation of patient specific 4-D flow protocols. An asynchronous command and imaging pipeline allows remote image processing and analysis in a timely and secure manner even with complicated or large medical imaging data sets and metadata.

Eddy current induced phase distortion correction system

Method for automatic segmentation of phase-coded flow images in magnetic resonance tomography

Die vorliegende Erfindung bezieht sich auf ein Verfahren zur automatischen Segmentierung von Flussbildern, wie sie in der Magnet-Resonanz-Tomographie zur Darstellung von beispielsweise Blut-durchflossenen Gefäßsystemen akquiriert werden. DOLLAR A Es wird ein Verfahren beansprucht zur automatischen Segmentierung von durchflossenen Bereichen (27) (28) in einem zu untersuchenden Objekt, DOLLAR A aufweisend die folgenden Schritte: DOLLAR A - Messen zumindest eines Phasenbildes eines ausgewählten Bereiches des Objektes mit Hilfe der Magnetresonanztomographie, DOLLAR A - automatisches Segmentieren der durchflossenen Bereiche (27) (28) in dem zumindest einen Phasenbild. The present invention relates to a method for automatic segmentation of flow images acquired in magnetic resonance tomography for imaging, for example, blood-perfused vasculature. DOLLAR A A method is claimed for the automatic segmentation of areas (27) (28) in an object to be examined, DOLLAR A comprising the following steps: DOLLAR A - Measuring at least one phase image of a selected area of the object by means of magnetic resonance tomography, DOLLAR A - automatic segmentation of the regions (27) (28) through which they flow in the at least one phase image.

Method for the simultaneous detection of numerous components of movement of a material in a subject

Verfahren zum gleichzeitigen Erfassen von zahlreichen Bewegungskomponenten von einem Material in einem Subjekt, enthaltend die Schritte: a) Anordnen des Subjektes in einem Magnetfeld, um Kernspins zu polarisieren, b) Anlegen eines Hochfrequenz(HF)-Pulses mit einer gewählten Frequenz und Amplitude, c) Anlegen eines Scheiben-selektiven Magnetfeldgradienten in einer Scheibenwählrichtung senkrecht zu einer abzubildenden Scheibe gleichzeitig mit dem Anlegen des HF Pulses und Nutieren von schwingenden Kernen bzw. 'Kernspins' in einer Scheibe des Subjektes, wobei transversale Spinmagnetisierung hervorgerufen wird, d) Anlegen eines Geschwindigkeits-kodierenden Magnetfeld-Gradientenpulses mit gewählter Polarität in einer Geschwindigkeits-kodierenden Richtung an das Subjekt, wobei die transversale Spinmagnetisierung eine durch Geschwindigkeit hervorgerufene Phasenverschiebung erfährt, e) Anlegen eines Phasenkodierungspulses mit mehreren Nulldurchgängen, der ein Magnetfeld-Gradientenpuls mit einer gewählten Amplitude ist, die eine Phasenverschiebung proportional zur Beschleunigung hervorruft und in einer phasenkodierenden Richtung orientiert ist, die von der Scheibenwählrichtung und der Geschwindigkeits-kodierenden Richtung unabhängig ist, f) Anlegen eines Auslese-Magnetfeld-Gradientenpulses in einer... A method of simultaneously detecting numerous components of motion of a material in a subject, comprising the steps of: a) placing the subject in a magnetic field to polarize nuclear spins, b) applying a radio frequency (RF) pulse having a selected frequency and amplitude, c) applying a slice selective magnetic field gradient in a slice select direction perpendicular to a slice to be imaged concurrently with the application of the RF pulse and grooving nuclei in a slice of the subject thereby causing transverse spin magnetization; d) applying a velocity-encoding magnetic field gradient pulse of selected polarity in a velocity-encoding direction to the subject, the ...

Method for the simultaneous detection of numerous velocity components in moving fluids

Verfahren zum gleichzeitigen Erfassen von zahlreichen Bewegungskomponenten von einem Material in einem Subjekt, enthaltend die Schritte: a) Anordnen des Subjektes in einem Magnetfeld, um Kernspins zu polarisieren, b) Anlegen eines Hochfrequenz(HF)-Pulses mit einer gewählten Frequenz und Amplitude, c) Anlegen eines Scheiben-selektiven Magnetfeldgradienten in einer Scheibenwählrichtung senkrecht zu einer abzubildenden Scheibe gleichzeitig mit dem Anlegen des HF-Pulses und Nutieren von schwingenden Kernen bzw. "Kernspins" in einer Scheibe des Subjektes, wobei transversale Spinmagnetisierung hervorgerufen wird, d) Anlegen eines Geschwindigkeits-kodierenden Magnetfeld-Gradientenpulses mit gewählter Polarität in einer ersten Geschwindigkeits-kodierenden Richtung an das Subjekt, wobei die transversale Spinmagnetisierung eine durch Geschwindigkeit hervorgerufene Phasenverschiebung erfährt, e) Anlegen eines Phasenkodierungspulses mit mehreren Nulldurchgängen, der ein Magnetfeld-Gradientenpuls mit einer gewählten Amplitude ist, die eine Phasenverschiebung proportional zur Geschwindigkeit hervorruft und in einer zweiten phasenkodierenden Richtung orientiert ist, die von der Scheibenwählrichtung und der ersten Geschwindigkeits-kodierenden Richtung unabhängig ist, f) Anlegen eines... A method of simultaneously detecting numerous components of motion of a material in a subject, comprising the steps of: a) placing the subject in a magnetic field to polarize nuclear spins, b) applying a radio frequency (RF) pulse having a selected frequency and amplitude, c) applying a slice selective magnetic field gradient in a slice select direction perpendicular to a slice to be imaged concurrently with the application of the RF pulse and grooving nuclei in a slice of the subject causing transverse spin magnetization; d) applying a velocity-encoding magnetic field gradient pulse of selected polarity in a first velocity-encoding direction to the subject, the transverse spin magnetization ...

Device and method for contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method of providing a magnetic resonance image by a magnetic resonance imaging device includes: a step of acquiring magnetic resonance imaging data by applying a pulse sequence for acquiring a white blood magnetic resonance image and a pulse sequence for acquiring a black blood magnetic resonance imaging image; and a step of generating the white blood magnetic resonance image and the black blood magnetic resonance image based on the magnetic resonance image data. It is possible to more clearly identify a lesion.

MAGNETIC RESONANT VISUALIZATION OF VENOUS BLOOD USING A STIMULATED ECHO-PULSE SEQUENCE WITH GRADIENTS OF FLOW SENSITIZATION

1. Способ, содержащий этапы, на которых:выполняют последовательность визуализации венозной крови с локальным возбуждением (LOBBI), используя магнитно-резонансный (MR) сканер (10), причем выполнение последовательности LOBBI включает в себя этапы, на которых:применяют первый градиент сенсибилизации потока для сенсибилизации потока в плоскости с 90° радиочастотным импульсом, предшествующим первому градиенту сенсибилизации потока, и -90° инвертированным радиочастотным импульсом, следующим за первым градиентом сенсибилизации потока,применяют отклоняющий градиент после применения первого градиента сенсибилизации потока,применяют второй градиент сенсибилизации потока для сенсибилизации потока в плоскости после применения отклоняющего градиента, причем второй градиент сенсибилизации потока имеет площадь, равную площади первого градиента сенсибилизации потока, но имеет противоположную полярность, ивыполняют модуль сбора данных, включающий в себя этапы, на которых:применяют срез-селектирующий радиочастотный импульс возбуждения после применения отклоняющего градиента; ивыполняют магнитно-резонансное считывание для сбора данных после применения срез-селектирующего радиочастотного импульса возбуждения,причем по меньшей мере участок второго градиентасенсибилизации потока применяют после применения срез-селектирующего радиочастотного импульса возбуждения.2. Способ по п. 1, в котором последовательность LOBBI включает в себя этап, на котором выполняют n повторений модуля сбора данных, где n>1.3. Способ по п. 1, в котором выполнение содержит этап, на котором:выполняют последовательность LOBBI, используя MR сканер (10) и катуш РОССИЙСКАЯ ФЕДЕРАЦИЯ (19) RU (11) (13) 2013 151 800 A (51) МПК A61B 5/026 (2006.01) ФЕДЕРАЛЬНАЯ СЛУЖБА ПО ИНТЕЛЛЕКТУАЛЬНОЙ СОБСТВЕННОСТИ (12) ЗАЯВКА НА ИЗОБРЕТЕНИЕ (21)(22) Заявка: 2013151800/14, 12.04.2012 (71) Заявитель(и): КОНИНКЛЕЙКЕ ФИЛИПС Н.В. (NL), ДЗЕ ЮНИВЕРСИТИ ОФ ВАШИНГТОН (US) Приоритет(ы): (30) Конвенционный приоритет: 21.04.2011 US 61/477,833 (85 ...

MAGNETIC RESONANCE ANALYSIS USING SEVERAL PAIRS OF BIPOLAR GRADIENT PULSES

1. Способ анализа методом магнитного резонанса пробы, предусматривающий:приложение к пробе множества пар подпоследовательностей биполярных импульсов градиента; при этом каждая подпоследовательность биполярных импульсов градиента каждой пары содержит:первый импульс градиента, соответствующий первому возбуждению градиентной обмотки при первой амплитуде для первого периода времени, и второй импульс градиента, соответствующий второму возбуждению градиентной обмотки при второй амплитуде для второго периода времени, при этом первое и второе возбуждения осуществляют вдоль направления градиента, характерного для указанной пары, и при этом первая и вторая амплитуды имеют противоположные полярности;получение сигнала магнитного резонанса от пробы;анализ сигнала; ивыдачу отчета относительно указанного анализа.2. Способ по п.1, в котором каждая пара подпоследовательностей биполярных импульсов градиента характеризуется другим направлением градиента.3. Способ по любому из пп.1 и 2, в котором указанное множество пар представляет собой две пары.4. Способ по любому из пп.1 и 2, дополнительно предусматривающий осуществление серий экспериментов, причем каждый эксперимент характеризуется другим углом ψ между соответствующими направлениями градиента указанных подпоследовательностей биполярных импульсов градиента.5. Способ по п.4, дополнительно предусматривающий анализ профилей сигнала как функции указанного угла для извлечения по меньшей мере одно из: информации о форме или информации о размере из пробы.6. Способ по п.5, дополнительно предусматривающий выработку оценки распределения эксцентриситета ограниченных я� РОССИЙСКАЯ ФЕДЕРАЦИЯ (19) RU (11) (51) МПК G01R 33/563 (13) 2013 102 918 A (2006.01) ФЕДЕРАЛЬНАЯ СЛУЖБА ПО ИНТЕЛЛЕКТУАЛЬНОЙ СОБСТВЕННОСТИ (12) ЗАЯВКА НА ИЗОБРЕТЕНИЕ (21)(22) Заявка: 2013102918/28, 23.06.2011 (71) Заявитель(и): РАМОТ ЭТ ТЕЛЬ-АВИВ ЮНИВЕРСИТИ ЛТД. (IL) Приоритет(ы): (30) Конвенционный приоритет: 24.06.2010 US 61/358,036 (85) Дата начала рассмотрения заявки PCT на ...

Magnetic resonance imaging method

In a method of magnetic resonance imaging in which an RF magnetic field pulse, a slice magnetic field, a phase encoding magnetic field and a signal reading magnetic field are applied to a sample in a predetermined sequence for the construction of desired slice image on the basis of a magnetic resonance signal from the sample, artifacts due to moving parts of the sample under examination are removed by specific combinations of the magnetic fields.

Interleaved black and bright blood dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI

使用磁共振（MR）扫描器（10）执行交错黑/亮成像（IBBI），其中，所述IBBI的黑血模块（52）包括：施加第一流动敏化梯度；在施加所述第一流动敏化梯度之后施加扰相梯度；在施加所述扰相梯度之后施加第二流动敏化梯度，其中，所述第二流动敏化梯度具有与所述第一流动敏化梯度相等的面积，但为相反极性；在施加所述扰相梯度之后施加切片选择性射频激励脉冲；并且在施加第二流动敏化梯度之后并且在施加所述切片选择性射频激励之后执行MR读出，其中，所述读出采集在由所述切片选择性射频激励脉冲激励的区域中具有血液信号抑制的MR成像数据。重建具有血液信号抑制的所述MR成像数据，以生成黑血图像（20），并且重建所述IBBI的亮血模块（50）生成的MR成像数据，以生成亮血图像（22）。

Comprehensive cardiovascular analysis with volumetric phase-contrast mri

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CORRECTING PHASE DEGRADATION CAUSED BY INTERFERENCE CURRENTS

Magnetic resonance imaging system

Use the black blood MRI of the stimulated echo pulse train with flowing sensitizing gradients

使用磁共振扫描器执行黑血磁共振成像序列。所述序列包括：施加第一流动敏化梯度；在施加所述第一流动敏化梯度之后施加扰相梯度；在施加所述扰相梯度之后施加第二流动敏化梯度，其中，所述第二流动敏化梯度具有等于所述第一流动敏化梯度的，但极性相反的面积；在施加所述扰相梯度之后应用切片选择性射频激励脉冲；并且在施加所述第二流动敏化梯度之后和在施加所述切片选择性射频激励之后执行磁共振读出。所述读出要求磁共振成像数据在由所述切片选择性射频激励脉冲激励的区域中具有血信号抑制。所述磁共振成像数据被适当地重建以生成可以被显示的黑血图像。

Method and system for evaluating vertebrobasilar disease

A method and system are disclosed for evaluating symptomatic VBD which uses quantitative hemodynamic assessment in order to identify patients at high risk for stroke and provide appropriate guidance for intervention. Patients with symptomatic VBD may be considered for intervention to provide blood flow augmentation if evidence of sufficient flow compromise is present as defined by specific flow criteria, and treated medically otherwise.

Three-dimensional phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging using interleaved projection-reconstruction data

A three dimensional projection reconstruction pulse sequence is employed to acquire velocity encoded NMR data from which an image indicative of spin motion is reconstructed. The velocity encoding is along all three axes and it may include acquisitions at more than one velocity encoding first moment M1. When more than one first moment M1 is acquired, a 1DFT along the velocity encoding axis is performed prior to reconstructing images from the acquired NMR data.

Method and apparatus for rapid characterization of diffusion

In one embodiment of the present invention, a method of measuring the molecular displacement of a fluid is disclosed comprising: (a) applying a strong magnetic field gradient to the fluid; (b) applying a sequence of oscillating magnetic field pulses to the fluid wherein the sequence includes a first portion followed by a second portion, wherein the first portion spatially modulates the magnetization state of the fluid and the second portion monitors the evolution of the modulation; (c) detecting magnetic resonance signals from the fluid; and (d) analyzing the detected signals to determine the molecular displacement of the fluid. This method may be used to determine the diffusion of the fluid or the restricted diffusion of the fluid through the porous media if the fluid is within a porous media (such as earth formation, bone, wood or other material). Also disclosed is a logging tool configured to implement this methodology.

Flow velocity calculator in magnetic resonance diagnostic equipment

Method of correcting gradient nonuniformity in gradient motion sensitive imaging applications

The present disclosure provides a method and system for correcting errors caused by non-linearities in a gradient field profile of a gradient coil in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. The method includes obtaining a non-linearity tensor at each voxel within the imaging space using a computer model of the gradient coil; correcting motion sensitive encoding using the non-linearity tensor; and generating a corrected image using the corrected motion sensitive encoding.

Method for monitoring vascular flow using magnetic resonance signals

A pulse sequence is disclosed for operating a magnetic resonance system wherein a slice of the examination subject disposed perpendicularly to the flow in a vessel under examination is first selectively excited. A nuclear magnetic resonance signal is read out as an echo signal under the influence of a read-gradient disposed perpendicularly to the slice selection gradient. The signals acquired in successive steps are displayed on a time axis. In contrast to a conventional spin warp sequence, the phase coding gradient, and thus a topical resolution in one direction, are foregone, and instead a chronological resolution of the flow is achieved.

Method and apparatus for obtaining a mapping of the internal and overall motion of a target by phase labeling in magnetic resonance imaging

Method for the simultaneous detection of velocity and acceleration distribution in moving fluids

Highly constrained reconstruction of motion encoded MR images

A series of velocity encoded MR image frames are acquired. To increase the temporal resolution of the acquired image frames radial projections are acquired and each image frame is highly undersampled. The radial projections for each velocity encoding direction are interleaved throughout the scan and a composite phase image is reconstructed from these and used to reconstruct a velocity image for each image frame in a highly constrained backprojection method.

System for processing images to detect properties of skeletal muscle

One or more properties of motor units of skeletal muscle are determined by analysing a time series of Magnetic Resonance, MR, images representing a slice of a body part to identify signal voids in one or more images of the series. A comparison of at least one characteristic of the identified signal voids in the images is performed with a control data set of MR images produced by applying a controlled stimulus to a motor nerve to establish inherent characteristics of signal voids corresponding to motor units of skeletal muscle. Properties of candidate motor units are analysed to confirm or reject them as motor units and at least one of: a firing frequency of at least one of the confirmed motor units, a size of at least one of the confirmed motor units, a number of confirmed motor units in a given image area or a shape of at least one of the confirmed motor units is determined.

Highly constrained reconstruction of motion encoded mr images

A series of velocity encoded MR image frames are acquired. To increase the temporal resolution of the acquired image frames radial projections are acquired and each image frame is highly undersampled. The radial projections for each velocity encoding direction are interleaved throughout the scan and a composite phase image is reconstructed from these and used to reconstruct a velocity image for each image frame in a highly constrained backprojection method, wherein the value backproj ected into each image pixel is weighted by the normalized value of the corresponding pixel in the composite image .

Medical imaging and efficient sharing of medical imaging information

An MRI image processing and analysis system may identify instances of structure in MRI flow data, e.g., coherency, derive contours and/or clinical markers based on the identified structures. The system may be remotely located from one or more MRI acquisition systems, and perform: perform error detection and/or correction on MRI data sets (e.g., phase error correction, phase aliasing, signal unwrapping, and/or on other artifacts); segmentation; visualization of flow (e.g., velocity, arterial versus venous flow, shunts) superimposed on anatomical structure, quantification; verification; and/or generation of patient specific 4-D flow protocols. An asynchronous command and imaging pipeline allows remote image processing and analysis in a timely and secure manner even with complicated or large medical imaging data sets and metadata.

Apparatus and method for magnet resonance imaging using phase contrast flow

본 발명은 위상 대조 속도 측정을 이용하여 자기 공명 영상을 생성하는 자기 공명 영상 장치에 대한 것으로, 대상체로부터 획득한 MR 신호로부터 자기 공명 영상을 복원하는 프로그램을 저장하는 메모리; 및 상기 프로그램을 실행하는 프로세서(processor)를 포함하며, 상기 프로세서는, 상기 프로그램이 실행됨에 따라, 대상체에 대한 기준 데이터와 측정 대상이 되는 속도 방향에 해당하는 축에 대해 바이폴라 경사 자장을 추가하여 적어도 하나 이상의 축에 대한 속도 부호화 데이터를 획득하고, 기준 데이터와 각 축의 속도 부호화 데이터를 각 축별로 차감한 데이터를 기초로 압축 센싱 기법에 따라 영상을 복원한다. 이때, 영상의 복원 과정에서는 비용 함수를 최소화 하는 조건을 만족하는 해를 구한다.

Mr imaging using dixon-type water/fat separation with suppression of flow-induced leakage and/or swapping artifacts

The invention relates to a method of Dixon-type MR imaging. It is an object of the invention to provide a method that enables efficient and reliable Dixon water/fat separation, in particular using a bipolar acquisition strategy, while avoiding flow-induced leakage and swapping artifacts. According to the invention, an imaging sequence is executed which comprises at least one excitation RF pulse and switched magnetic field gradients, wherein pairs of echo signals are generated at two different echo times (TE1, TE2) and during two or more different cardiac phases (AW1, AW2). The echo signals are acquired and phase images are reconstructed therefrom. A final diagnostic image is reconstructed from the echo signal data using water/fat separation, wherein regions of flow and/or estimates of flow- induced phase errors are derived from the phase images to suppress or compensate for flow- induced leakage and/or swapping artifacts in the final diagnostic image. Therein, flow- induced phase offsets are determined by voxel-wise comparison of the phase images associated with the different cardiac phases. Moreover, the invention relates to a MR device (1) and to a computer program to be run on a MR device (1).

A kind of black blood MR imaging method of fat compacting

本发明公开一种脂肪压制黑血磁共振成像方法，包括：发射激发信号，所述激发信号包括： 射频脉冲序列，两个相同的运动敏感梯度磁场，除噪梯度磁场；一个所述运动敏感梯度磁场加载于第一个 脉冲与 脉冲之间，另一个所述运动敏感梯度磁场加载于 脉冲与第二个 x 脉冲之间；两个所述运动敏感梯度磁场以 脉冲对称地加载；所述除噪梯度磁场加载于所述 射频脉冲序列之后；将所述 射频脉冲序列之后的延时设置为脂肪组织的信号归零点；采集电磁波信号。本发明提供的技术方案能够降低对磁场不均匀性的敏感性，从而提高压脂效果；同时，能够降低MSDE脉冲序列的比吸收率。

Mr imaging using dixon-type water/fat separation with suppression of flow-induced leakage and/or swapping artifacts

The invention relates to a method of Dixon-type MR imaging. It is an object of the invention to provide a method that enables efficient and reliable Dixon water/fat separation, in particular using a bipolar acquisition strategy, while avoiding flow-induced leakage and swapping artifacts. According to the invention, an imaging sequence is executed which comprises at least one excitation RF pulse and switched magnetic field gradients, wherein pairs of echo signals are generated at two different echo times (TE1, TE2) and during two or more different cardiac phases (AW1, AW2). The echo signals are acquired and phase images are reconstructed therefrom. A final diagnostic image is reconstructed from the echo signal data using water/fat separation, wherein regions of flow and/or estimates of flow- induced phase errors are derived from the phase images to suppress or compensate for flow- induced leakage and/or swapping artifacts in the final diagnostic image. Therein, flow- induced phase offsets are determined by voxel-wise comparison of the phase images associated with the different cardiac phases. Moreover, the invention relates to a MR device (1) and to a computer program to be run on a MR device (1).

Methods and apparatus for mapping internal and bulk motion of an object with phase labeling in magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging method and apparatus are provided for mapping the internal or bulk motion of an object by labeling the phase of a specimen magnetization with a selected spatial function and measuring changes in the phase of the magnetization. The special function is selectable to provide magnetization phase modulation corresponding to displacements in a selected direction, such as a radial or azimuthal direction. Methods and apparatus for producing images based on magnetization phase modulation acquire image data based on stimulated echos and stimulated anti-echos. In an embodiment, a series of 180 degree pulses produces alternating stimulated and stimulated anti-echos that are measured and assigned to respective images.

METHOD FOR DETERMINING MOVABLE MATERIAL WITHIN A BODY

Method and system of enhanced phase suppression for phase-contrast MR imaging

An automated image processing technique is disclosed that evaluates pixels of a phase-difference image to determine those pixels corresponding to inflowing phase data and background phase data. Phase-difference images are generated from a first acquisition and a second acquisition. Non-zero spatially varying background phase from the phase-difference images that are due to eddy currents induced by flow encoding gradients used to generate the phase-difference images is determined. This non-zero spatially varying background phase is removed from the phase-difference images to determine phase associated with flowing spins and phase associated with stationary spins.

Automatic segmentation of stationary tissue in PCMR imaging

A method and system are described for compensating for the phase error in PCMR images due to eddy current effects. The phase noise due to eddy currents may be measured and characterized from phase images at selected regions near a vessel of interest.

Magnetic resonance imaging system

Systems and methods for free-breathing cine DENSE MRI using self-navigation

Some aspects of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods for free-breathing cine DENSE MRI using self-navigation. In one embodiment, a method includes acquiring magnetic resonance data for an area of interest of a subject, wherein the acquiring comprises performing sampling with phase-cycled, cine displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) during free-breathing of the subject; identifying, from the acquired magnetic resonance data, a plurality of phase-cycling data pairs corresponding to matched respiratory phases of the free-breathing of the subject; reconstructing, from the plurality of phase-cycling data pairs, a plurality of intermediate self-navigation images; performing motion correction by estimating, from the plurality of intermediate self-navigation images, the respiratory position associated with the plurality of phase-cycling data pairs; and reconstructing a plurality of motion-corrected cine DENSE images of the area of interest of the subject.

Adaptive key compression for dynamic magnetic resonance imaging with improved contrast

FIELD: physics. SUBSTANCE: magnetic resonance system visualization contains a sequence control block, a block digitization and a control unit. The sequence control unit controls the magnetic resonance scanner to collect compressed data magnetic resonance from the region visualization of the subject. Block digitization determines the change in the concentration of contrast medium present in the region visualization of the subject based on the magnetic resonance signals received by the radio frequency receiver. The control unit regulates the degree of compression of the collected data magnetic resonance based on the definition made by the block digitization. EFFECT: balancing the spatial and temporal resolution of dynamic contrast images. 15 cl, 4 dwg

Comprehensive cardiovascular analysis by volumetric phase contrast MRI