General Electric Company

Leland Stanford Junior University

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Inc.

General Electric Corporation Gmbh

Ann Shimakawa

Charles McKenzie

Gary H Glover

Scott Brian Reeder

Stephen W Flax

Huanzhou Yu

Jean Helen Brittain

Felix W Wehrli

Anja Brau

Methods and systems are provided for processing a magnetic resonance images. In one embodiment, first and second sets of lines of magnetic resonance imaging signals are acquired. The acquired sets of lines have readout gradients that are reversed in polarity with respect to one another. A two-dimensional phase error is determined using the first and second set of lines.

Method and system to perform phase correction for species separation in magnetic resonance imaging

A method for generating a calibrated parallel magnetic resonance image is provided in a manifestation of the invention. A magnetic resonance imaging excitation is applied. A plurality of echoes at different echo times (TE) is acquired. The acquired plurality of echoes from different echo times is used to create a chemical shift corrected calibration map.

Calibration maps for parallel imaging free of chemical shift artifact

A method for generating a self-calibrating parallel multiecho magnetic resonance image is provided. A magnetic resonance imaging excitation is applied. A first echo at a first echo time in a first pattern is acquired. A second echo at a second echo time different from the first echo phase in a second pattern different from the first pattern is acquired. The acquired first echo and acquired second echo are used to generate an image in an image pattern, wherein none of the acquired echoes for generating the image have the same pattern as the image pattern.

Self-calibration methods for parallel imaging and multipoint water-fat separation methods

NMR image data acquired from a human subject is corrected for view-to-view motion caused by respiration. As each view is acquired the position of the subject is also measured to indicate the distance of the anterior abdominal wall from a reference position. The acquired NMR image data is corrected using the associated measured distances and a simplified model of the motion.

Reduction of NMR artifacts caused by time varying linear geometric

NMR data indicative of the motion of the anterior abdominal wall of a subject is acquired just prior to each image data pulse sequence in an NMR scan. The acquired motion NMR data is processed on-line to produce a signal indicative of the displacement of the abdominal wall from a reference position. The displacement values may be employed to produce a signal indicative of a respiration phase that can be used in connection with motion artifact reduction techniques.

Method for monitoring respiration with acquired NMR data

A time-of-flight magnetic resonance pulse sequence is used to detect arterial flow in an image of a slice of tissue. By timing the pulse sequence with the cardiac cycle and by holding the interpulse interval T.sub.I within time limits which ensure enhancement without significant change in flow velocity, arterial flow can be imaged. By triggering the pulse sequence from the QRS complex representative of the beginning of a body's cardiac cycle and delaying both excitation and detection pulses in the sequence by a time T.sub.A to ensure the pulses occur while flow is slow, MR signal data is generated which results in an image showing enhancement in the areas of arterial flow. In an extension of the foregoing, a second set of MR signal data is generated by adjusting the acquisition delay T.sub.A such that the excitation and detection pulses of a second sequence occur while arterial flow is fast. In the image formed from this second set of data, the increased arterial flow velocity decreases the enhanced image of the arteries. The images generated from the MR signals of the first and second sequences may be subtracted in order to give a single high contrast image showing only arterial flow.

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Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

Ann Shimakawa