Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100019766 | System for Dynamically Compensating for Inhomogeneity in an MR Imaging Device Magnetic Field - A system automatically dynamically compensates for inhomogeneity in an MR imaging device magnetic field. An MR imaging compensation system applies swept frequency magnetic field variation in determining an estimate of proton spin frequency at multiple individual locations associated with individual image elements in an anatomical volume of interest and substantially independently of tissue associated relaxation time. For the multiple individual locations, the system determines an offset frequency comprising a difference between a determined estimate of proton spin frequency associated with an individual image element location and a nominal proton spin frequency. The system derives data representing an electrical signal to be applied to magnetic field generation coils to substantially compensate for determined offset frequencies at the multiple individual locations. An MR magnetic field coil generates a magnetic field in response to applying the electrical signal to substantially compensate for magnetic field variation represented by the determined offset frequencies at the multiple individual locations. | 01-28-2010 |
20100045291 | MAGNETIC RESONANCE APPARATUS AND METHOD TO ACQUIRE AND DISPLAY CALIBRATION IMAGES - In a method and magnetic resonance apparatus to acquire and present calibration images of a periodically moving organ with the use of magnetic resonance technology, calibration images are acquired by acquiring measurement data for multiple calibration images during one continuous period of the organ movement, the multiple calibration images differing in their offset frequency and/or in their spatial position in the organ to be examined, and the calibration images in a presentation manner that, from the visual quality of the respective images, allows the user to select (identify) the image acquired with the offset frequency that should then be used to acquire the diagnostic image are displayed to a user. | 02-25-2010 |
20100063381 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING AN ITEM OF POSITIONING INFORMATION FOR ECG ELECTRODES DURING AN EXAMINATION WITH A MAGNETIC RESONANCE FACILITY AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE FACILITY - A method for determining an item of positioning information for ECG electrodes during an examination with a magnetic resonance facility is provided. An image data record of a region surrounding the heart of a patient and the electrodes arranged on the surface of the patient is recorded. A position of the longitudinal heart axis and a position of the electrodes in the image data record are determined. A target position suited to determining evaluable ECG signals is automatically calculated for each of the electrodes by considering the position of the longitudinal heart axis and a displacement from the position of the electrodes to the target position. An item of positioning information for the electrodes is displayed by taking the displacements into consideration. | 03-11-2010 |
20100127702 | SYSTEM FOR ADJUSTING A MAGNETIC FIELD FOR MR AND OTHER USE - An MR magnetic field inhomogeneity compensation system acquires multiple MR data sets representing luminance intensity values of individual image elements comprising corresponding multiple different image versions of at least a portion of a first imaging slice of patient anatomy including fat and water components. The compensation system employs the multiple MR data sets in solving corresponding multiple simultaneous nonlinear equations to calculate local frequency offset associated with magnetic field inhomogeneity at the individual image element location, for an individual image element of the image elements. The local frequency offset comprises a difference between proton spin frequency at the location and a nominal proton spin frequency. The compensation system derives data representing an electrical signal to be applied to magnetic field generation coils to substantially compensate for determined offset frequencies at the plurality of individual locations. A magnetic field generation coil generates a magnetic field in response to applying the electrical signal to substantially compensate for the magnetic field inhomogeneity at the individual image element location. | 05-27-2010 |
20100145184 | METHOD AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING A CODING FOR A FLOW MEASUREMENT AND FOR IMPLEMENTING A FLOW MEASUREMENT WITH THE CODING - In a method and magnetic resonance system to determine a flow coding for a flow measurement with the magnetic resonance system, in order to determine the optimal flow coding, a flow pre-measurement with multiple different flow codings is conducted within a slice within a body to be examined, each of these codings allowing flow velocities to be detected with a sensitivity dependent on the respective coding. A velocity distribution is generated from the results of this flow pre-measurement by a Fourier transformation. The optimal flow coding for the flow measurement is then determined based on this spectrum. The flow measurement is implemented by determining angiography measurement data of a volume within the body to be examined, determining a vessel, depending on a user input, from the angiography measurement data, automatically determining dimensions and an orientation of the vessel from the angiography measurement data, automatically determining a slice for the flow measurement depending on the dimensions and the orientation, and implementing the flow measurement in the slice with the determined optimal coding. | 06-10-2010 |
20100160766 | MAGNETIC RESONANCE METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FLOW MEASUREMENT - In a method for flow measurement with a magnetic resonance system and a correspondingly designed magnetic resonance system angiography measurement data of a volume are obtained within a body to be examined, a vessel is determined depending on a user input by means of the angiography measurement data, dimensions and an orientation of the vessel are automatically determined from the angiography measurement data, a slice geometry for the flow measurement is automatically determined depending on the dimensions and the orientation, and the flow measurement is implemented using the slice geometry. | 06-24-2010 |
20100219831 | MAGNETIC RESONANCE METHOD CONTROL DEVICE AND SYSTEM FOR IMAGING A VOLUME SEGMENT OF A SUBJECT - For imaging a volume segment by means of a magnetic resonance system, of the volume segment is transferred into a dynamic steady state relative to the magnetization by means of the magnetic resonance system. The following steps are repeatedly executed until the volume segment has been completely measured. The slice is excited by means of the magnetic resonance system. MR signals of the slice are read out. The slice is offset in an overlapping manner such that an overlap range is created by the slice before the offset and the slice after the offset, the overlap range being a predetermined percentile of both the slice before the offset and the slice after the offset. | 09-02-2010 |
20100286503 | METHOD AND CONTROL DEVICE TO OPERATE A MAGNETIC RESONANCE SYSTEM - In a method of a magnetic resonance system and a method and computer-readable storage medium for the operation thereof to acquire magnetic resonance image data of an examination subject, wherein magnetic resonance system has a number of subsystems and a control device, a number of adjustment measurements to adjust at least one subsystem for making a medical diagnostic data acquisition are implemented through the control device. In these adjustment measurements, an adjustment volume associated with the appertaining adjustment measurement is taken into account that encompasses at least one region of a body containing the examination subject. For this purpose, markings established by the control device within image data of the examination subject and characterizing the spatial occupation (position and orientation) and/or a dimension of the examination subject are determined. Based on these markings the spatial occupation and extent of an adjustment volume for an adjustment measurement are determined automatically by the control device. | 11-11-2010 |
20100292561 | METHOD AND APPARATUS TO DETERMINE A MAGNETIC RESONANCE RELAXATION TIME IN THE HEART MUSCLE IN A MAGNETIC RESONANCE EXAMINATION - In a method and magnetic resonance (MR) system to determine an MR relaxation time (for example a T | 11-18-2010 |
20110103665 | GENERATION OF MOVING VASCULAR MODELS AND BLOOD FLOW ANALYSIS FROM MOVING VASCULAR MODELS AND PHASE CONTRAST MRI - A method of deriving blood flow parameters from a moving three-dimensional (3D) model of a blood vessel includes determining a reference vascular cross-sectional plane through a location of a lumen in a moving 3D model of the blood vessel at one time within the model, determining a plurality of target vascular cross-sectional planes at multiple times via temporal tracking of the reference plane based on a displacement field, determining a plurality of contours based on an intersection of the target vascular cross-sectional planes with the moving 3D vessel model at multiple times within the model, and determining a blood flow parameter of the vessel from intersections of each contour of a given one of the times with a phase contrast magnetic resonance (PC-MRI) image of the blood vessel from the corresponding time. | 05-05-2011 |
20110140698 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PHASE-SENSITIVE FLOW MEASUREMENT BY MAGNETIC RESONANCE - In a method and a device for phase-sensitive flow measurement of a volume segment of an examination subject using a magnetic resonance (MR) system, the volume segment is coded for imaging of this volume segment and a phase coding of the volume segment to code flow information of the volume segment is implemented. MR data are read out from the volume segment and the MR data are evaluated in order to generate an image of the volume segment with flow information. The phase coding to code the flow information is thereby independent of gradients which are used for spatial coding of the volume segment. | 06-16-2011 |
20110153231 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PHASE-SENSITIVE FLOW MEASUREMENT BY A MAGNETIC RESONANCE - In a method and a device for phase-sensitive flow measurement of a volume segment of an examination subject in a measurement system, the volume segment is divided into multiple partial volume segments and the following steps are executed repeatedly until the volume segment has been completely measured: movement of a table such that a center of one of the partial volume segments to be measured essentially corresponds to the isocenter of the magnetic resonance system, and implementation of the phase-sensitive flow measurement for the partial volume segment to be measured while the center of the partial volume segment essentially corresponds to the isocenter. | 06-23-2011 |
20110181285 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING TO CREATE T1 MAPS - In a method and apparatus for MR imaging, a data acquisition sequence is executed wherein at least two slices of an examination subject are imaged in parallel with a gradient echo method for spatially resolved quantification of the T | 07-28-2011 |
20110188721 | METHOD AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE DEVICE TO DETERMINE A BACKGROUND PHASE CURVE - In a magnetic resonance (MR) device and method to determine a background phase curve in MR image data, in first MR image data and in second MR image data that respectively represent different segments (for example different slices) of an examination subject, first and second pixels are identified that represent essentially stationary tissue, and the associated phase values are determined. Phase correction values for the first MR image data are determined depending on the phase values determined for the first and second pixels that represent essentially stationary tissue. | 08-04-2011 |
20120078084 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SHORTENED LOOK LOCKER INVERSION RECOVERY (Sh-MOLLI) CARDIAC GATED MAPPING OF T1 - A shortened version of the MOLLI sequence (Sh-MOLLI) is described which generates rapid and high-resolution myocardial spin-lattice (T1) maps. The Sh-MOLLI technique is based on a significant abbreviation of pre-existing TI sampling scheme combined with the use of processing logic to bypass the major side effects of the above sampling scheme abbreviation and distinguish between long and short T1 relaxation times in order to conditionally utilize available TI samples for non-linear T1 fitting. | 03-29-2012 |
20120189183 | Automatic Registration of Image Series with Varying Contrast Based on Synthetic Images Derived from Intensity Behavior Model - A method for performing motion compensation in a series of magnetic resonance (MR) images includes acquiring a set of MR image frames spanning different points along an MR recovery curve. A motion-free synthetic image is generated for each of the acquired MR image frames using prior knowledge pertaining to an MR recovery curve. Each of the acquired MR images is registered to its corresponding generated synthetic images. Motion within each of the acquired MR image is corrected based on its corresponding generated synthetic image that has been registered thereto. | 07-26-2012 |
20120223713 | METHOD AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE SYSTEM TO AUTOMATICALLY DETERMINE PARAMETERS OF A FLOW MEASUREMENT - In a method and a magnetic resonance system to automatically determine parameters of a phase contrast flow measurement, a phase contrast pre-measurement with a flow coding sequence is implemented in a predetermined volume segment of an examination subject, and the flow coding sequence is varied in terms of its parameters so that a pre-measurement is respectively implemented for multiple different parameter sets of the flow coding sequence. A model is automatically determined with which a dimension of a phase error can be determined for each parameter set in the flow measurement, in that phase values of the pre-measurement which is implemented with the flow coding sequence with the respective parameter set are analyzed. Those parameters of the flow measurement at which the dimension of the phase error is smallest are automatically determined. | 09-06-2012 |
20120232379 | Method and System for Regression-Based 4D Mitral Valve Segmentation From 2D+t Magnetic Resonance Imaging Slices - A system and method for regression-based segmentation of the mitral valve in 2D+t cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) slices is disclosed. The 2D+t CMR slices are acquired according to a mitral valve-specific acquisition protocol introduced herein. A set of mitral valve landmarks is detected in each 2D CMR slice and mitral valve contours are estimated in each 2D CMR slice based on the detected landmarks. A full mitral valve model is reconstructed from the mitral valve contours estimated in the 2D CMR slices using a trained regression model. Each 2D CMR slice may be a cine image acquired over a full cardiac cycle. In this case, the segmentation method reconstructs a patient-specific 4D dynamic mitral valve model from the 2D+t CMR image data. | 09-13-2012 |
20120268125 | DYNAMIC ADAPTATION OF A DEPHASING GRADIENT PAIR - In a method for optimization of a flow coding with switching of an additional bipolar dephasing gradient pair, used in a magnetic resonance (MR) phase contrast angiography, the strength of the flow coding is selected depending on the flow velocity in the vessels that should be depicted. MR signals of an examination region are acquired with continuously running overview measurements, with an operator-selected flow coding strength. After the selected flow coding strength is adopted automatically for the next measurement of the continuously running overview measurements, and two partial measurements with different flow codings are implemented for each selected strength and a phase difference image from the two partial measurements is calculated and depicted in real time, and the selected flow coding strength is automatically adopted for the MR phase contrast angiography. | 10-25-2012 |
20120283548 | METHOD AND DEVICE TO ASSIST A PATIENT IN RE-ASSUMING A DEFINED BREATH HOLD POSITION FOR AN IMAGE ACQUISITION - In a method and device to assist a patient in the resumption of a defined breath hold position for an image acquisition, in particular a magnetic resonance image acquisition, reference data describing the defined breath hold position are acquired in a first breath hold phase by a measurement device, measurement data describing the current breath hold position are acquired with the measurement device and are compared with the reference data in the preparation of an additional breath hold phase, and information describing the deviation of the measurement data from the reference data is emitted by an output device in a humanly-perceptible form. | 11-08-2012 |
20130060126 | METHOD AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE SYSTEM TO GENERATE AN MR IMAGE WITH A TRACKING FACTOR - For the generation of a magnetic resonance (MR) image of a predetermined volume segment of a living subject, a tracking factor is determined for each of different regions of the volume segment, from which the position of the respective region can be determined depending on a position of a moving area of the subject. MR image data of the volume segment are acquired for different positions of the moving area. The position of the moving area is calculated depending on the position and the tracking factor of the respective region, and the MR image data of the respective region are reconstructed using the MR image data of the volume segment corresponding to the calculated position of the moving area. The MR image of the predetermined volume segment is generated as a combination of the constructed MR image data of the regions. | 03-07-2013 |
20130272591 | PHASE SENSITIVE T1 MAPPING IN MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING - Phase sensitive T1 mapping is provided in magnetic resonance (MR). The phase from samples of a modified Look-Locker inversion recovery sequence may be used to normalize contrast, allowing for accurate motion registration without extra information acquisition. The sign may be estimated, allowing T1 mapping with a single application of a non-linear fit. | 10-17-2013 |
20130278259 | METHOD FOR A RAPID DETERMINATION OF SPATIALLY RESOLVED MAGNETIC RESONANCE RELAXATION PARAMETERS IN AN AREA OF EXAMINATION - In a method for a rapid determination of spatially resolved magnetic resonance relaxation parameters in an area of examination, a preparation pulse is radiated into the area of examination. During the relaxation of the longitudinal magnetization, spatially encoded magnetic resonance signals are acquired at a minimum of two different points in time using a fast magnetic resonance sequence. At each inversion time, an image data record is reconstructed from the magnetic resonance signals, which are elastically registered to each other. From the recorded image data records, values of magnetic resonance relaxation parameters are spatially accurately determined. | 10-24-2013 |
20140062481 | METHOD AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE SYSTEM FOR MR IMAGING OF A PREDETERMINED VOLUME SEGMENT OF A LIVING EXAMINATION SUBJECT BY STIMULATION OF THE EXAMINATION SUBJECT - In MR imaging of a predetermined volume segment of a living examination subject, the examination subject is stimulated with a defined stimulation pattern, MR data of the predetermined volume segment, are acquired, and MR images based on the MR data are generated that depend on the stimulation pattern. The predetermined volume segment is an internal organ or muscle tissue of the examination subject. | 03-06-2014 |
20140084916 | 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. | 03-27-2014 |
20140314289 | Methods and Systems for Automatically Determining Magnetic Field Inversion Time of a Tissue Species - A computer-implemented method for determining magnetic field inversion time of a tissue species includes generating a T1-mapping image of a tissue of interest, the T1-mapping image comprising a plurality of T1 values within an expected range of T1 values for the tissue of interest. An image mask is created based on predetermined identification information about the tissue of interest. Next, an updated image mask is created based on a largest connected region in the image mask. The updated image mask is applied to the T1-mapping image to yield a masked image. Then, a mean relaxation time value is determined for the largest connected region. The mean relaxation time value is then used to determine a time point for nulling longitudinal magnetization. | 10-23-2014 |
20140348406 | MAGNETIC RESONANCE METHOD AND TOMOGRAPHY SYSTEM FOR ACQUIRING IMAGE DATA SETS - In a method and a magnetic resonance tomography system, at least two temporally separate original data sets are acquired with one phase measurement value being acquired for each pixel in each original image data set. An optimization technique for the shared calculation of corrected phase values for the pixels in the data sets is implemented in a computer, wherein the corrected phase values of the pixels in a first of the data sets is in each case dependent at least on the phase measured value of the pixel at the same location in a second of the data sets which is recorded beforehand or afterwards, and the corrected phase values of the pixels in the second data set are in each case dependent at least on the phase measured value of the pixel at the same place in the first data set. Corrected image data sets are generated from the corrected phase values. | 11-27-2014 |
20150061671 | 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. | 03-05-2015 |
20150070015 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING - In a method and apparatus for magnetic resonance imaging, in order to create a T1 map, an pulse sequence is used that includes at least one exposure cycle, wherein the exposure cycle includes an inversion pulse, a saturation pulse quantity of one or more saturation pulses and a readout step quantity of one or more readout steps. Within the exposure cycle, at least one saturation pulse of the saturation pulse quantity follows the inversion pulse and at least one readout step of the readout step quantity follows the at least one saturation pulse. | 03-12-2015 |