General Electric Company

Ge Healthcare As

Paritosh Jayant Dhawale

William Thomas Dixon

Daniel J Blezek

Mark Alan Jackson

Michael Brussermann

Hernan Rodrigo Lara

Ulrich Ketzscher

Bruce Fletcher Johnson

Douglas Albagli

Mikkel Jacob Thaning

Ileana Hancu

Faisal Ahmed Syud

Andreas Richard Meijer

Mohan Mark Amaratunga

Gregory Michael Kautz

Amy Casey Williams

Nadeem Ishaque

Thierry Lebihen

Salvatore Desena

Denyce Kramer Wicht

Paul Alexander Jones

Deirdre Cassidy

Concetta Valeria Gringeri

The present invention relates to in vivo imaging and in particular to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Provided by the present invention is a pharmaceutical formulation suitable for use in an MRI procedure and which offers advantages over known such formulations. A particular dose of the pharmaceutical formulation of the invention is also envisioned as well as the use of said dose in a method of in vivo imaging. This present invention provides for simultaneous administration of a liver specific agent and a second MR contrast agent that is capable of better/further enhancing the dynamic vascular phase in a patient. The method of the invention has the advantage of simplicity and patient comfort, compared to sequential injections. Furthermore, the method of the invention provides the advantage that it can enable a lower cumulative dose of contrast agents.

Combination formulation

Systems, apparatus and methods are provided through which an injector system automates a process of injecting an individual dose from a multiple dose of a radiotracer material. In some embodiments, the injector system includes a first dose calibrator system that receives a multidose vial of a radiotracer, a second dose calibrator system, an injection pump and an intravenous needle. In some embodiments, the first dose calibrator system and the multidose vial have an integrated shape. In some embodiments, the first dose calibrator system includes a pneumatic arm that receives the multidose vial.

Systems, methods and apparatus for infusion of radiopharmaceuticals

In one aspect, systems, methods and apparatus are provided through which a dispensing station dispenses a large quantity of a radiotracer to one or more positron emission tomography imaging stations. In some aspects a quality control unit verifies the quality of the radiotracer. In some embodiments, components of the system are coupled by a local area network. In some aspects, each positron emission tomography imaging station includes an injector system, a physiological monitoring device, and a positron emission tomography scanner. All of the devices can be controlled by a computer system.

Systems, methods and apparatus for preparation, delivery and monitoring of radioisotopes in positron emission tomography

This invention relates to bifunctional detection agents useful for providing high-resolution, in vivo imaging of biochemical activity in a living organism. Methods of using these bifunctional detection agents may comprise administering them into a living organism, and then estimating the localization of the detection agent using one modality (i.e., MRI), while concurrently estimating the level of biological activity using a second modality (i.e., optical imaging). One of the bifunctional detection agents comprises a magnetic resonance component and an optical imaging component. The magnetic resonance component comprises a contrast agent that is always activated or 'on'. The optical imaging component comprises an activatable contrast agent or dye that is activated or turned 'on' only in the presence of a particular event. For example, the optical imaging component may be activated by a certain wavelength of light and (1) by the presence of a particular biochemical marker, (2) by enzyme cleavage, or (3) by a change in the temperature or pH of the surrounding medium. These bifunctional detection agents allow both anatomical and functional/metabolic information to be obtained simultaneously.

Systems and methods for high-resolution in vivo imaging of biochemical activity in a living organism

Systems and methods for identifying the relative contribution of fat and water signals in a magnetic resonance ('MR') image including an algorithm operable for selecting an image signal model, selecting a scan parameter, forming a bias field estimate, applying a bias correction to a phase image, estimating the signal fraction of fat and water at each of a plurality of voxels, and forming a fat-suppressed image, a water-suppressed image, or a combination of a fat-based image and a water-based image. The ('MRI') fat suppression systems and methods requiring only a single image acquisition including an algorithm operable for selecting a relative phase of approximately &#x3b8;=&#x3c0;/2 or another suitable relative phase, employing an expectation maximization algorithm to classify the phase of the complex image, and projecting complex vectors into fat and water components to obtain fat and water images.

Fat/water separation and fat minimization magnetic resonance imaging systems and methods

Magnetic resonance imaging ('MRI') systems and methods for acquiring multi-slice gradient echo images having a substantially constant T-weighting including selecting a first scan having a desired contrast associated with T-weighting and, given a first repetition time, TR, and a first flip angle, flip, associated with the first scan, selecting an effective repetition time, TReff, that provides the desired contrast. The MRI systems and methods also including holding the effective repetition time, TReff, substantially constant in relation to a second scan. The MRI systems and methods further including, given a second repetition time, TR, determining a second flip angle, flip, and, given the second flip angle, flip, determining the second repetition time, TR. The MRI systems and methods still further including performing the second scan using the second repetition time, TR, and the second flip angle, flip, and maximizing a signal-to-noise ratio, S/N, of the second scan.

Magnetic resonance imaging systems and methods for acquiring multi-slice gradient echo images

A technique is provided in which a gain correction map derived for a detector at one X-ray spectrum may be adapted to accommodate images acquired by the detector at a different X-ray spectrum. The technique accounts for the physical variations in the detector which may produce spectrally-sensitive artifacts as well as for the particular image acquisition conditions. A technique is also provided for correcting edge artifacts in an acquired image by measuring median signal intensity within columns or rows of the image and deriving correction factors for the respective edge columns or rows based upon the trends of the median signal intensities. A technique is also provided for storing detector attributes during a manufacturing calibration process and accessing them during system operation such that a suitable gain correction factor is employed based upon the spectrum and operating conditions.

Method and apparatus for reducing spectrally-sensitive artifacts

The present invention provides an adaptive fluoroscopic noise reduction (FNR) algorithm utilizing various data acquisition parameters to generate an estimation of the noise statistics and to predict a minimal object contrast associated with the object. The estimation of the noise statistics and the prediction of the object contrast are then utilized to adapt certain variables that are utilized by the FNR algorithm. The estimation of noise statistics and the prediction of object contrast may be adapted on a pixel-by-pixel basis by using a regional mean to obtain an adapted estimation of noise statistics and an adapted prediction of object absolute contrast. The variables of the FNR algorithm are then adapted based on the adapted noise statistics estimation and the adapted prediction of object absolute contrast.

Method and apparatus for performing fluoroscopic noise reduction

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Brookfield, WI, United States of America

Paritosh Jayant Dhawale