Duke University

Walgreen Company

Heart Imaging Technologies, LLC

Siemens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc.

Siemens Healthcare Gmbh

Siemens Healthineers Ag

Other

Raymond J Kim

Enn-Ling Chen

Wolfgang Gerhard Rehwald

Andrew David Schweinfurth

Kartik Subramanian

Robert M Judd

Elizabeth R Jenista

Bryan Anderson

David C Wendell

Han W Kim

Orlando P Simonetti

Jeffrey M Bundy

A system and method comprises acquisition of a plurality of navigator k-space data segments and a k-space data segment associated with each of the plurality of navigator k-space data segments, generation of a respective navigator image from each of the plurality of navigator k-space data segments, determination, based on the respective navigator images of each of the plurality of navigator k-space data segments, of a first center navigator k-space data segment associated with a most common respiratory position of a subject, determination of a center k-space data segment corresponding to the first center navigator k-space data segment, determination, for each non-center segment of k-space, of a k-space data segment whose respective navigator image is most similar to a first center navigator image generated from the first center navigator k-space data segment, and generation of an image based on the determined k-space data segments.

Selection of k-space data segments based on associated navigator images

A method for reordering a segmented MRI pulse sequence includes synchronizing to a physiologic signal of a heart or vessel, to a respiratory signal, or to an external trigger source, and acquiring a plurality of data collecting segments as a contiguous block in a phase encoding direction such that lines of the plurality of data collecting segments are alternately acquired in a forward direction and a reverse direction for each consecutive data collecting segment.

Combined acquisition and reordering scheme for reconstructing images with reduced motion artifacts

Techniques for automatically securing receptacles of a retailer via an electronic lock include receiving a user request to reserve a receptacle, selecting a suitable receptacle based on one or more conditions, some of which may be specified by the user, and transmitting an electronic locking signal to secure, and thereby reserve, the selected receptacle. An association between the reserved receptacle and the user is stored, and the user is electronically notified. Subsequently, an electronic signal indicative of the identification of the user (or of the user's agent) is locally received. Upon determination that the user is expected and associated with the reserved receptacle, the techniques include causing an electronic unlocking signal to be transmitted to the electronic lock, thereby unlocking the receptacle. Further subsequently, upon receiving an electronic locking instruction, the receptacle may automatically be secured via its corresponding electronic lock, and a retailer agent may be electronically notified.

Remote trigger for security system

A system and method comprises execution of a segmented magnetic resonance imaging pulse sequence, the pulse sequence including a plurality of shots, each of the plurality of shots including an inversion recovery preparation pulse and acquiring a respective segment of k-space lines, wherein each shot comprises a different inversion time between a peak of the inversion recovery pulse and a midpoint of the acquisition of the respective segment of k-space lines, and reconstruction of an image based on the acquired respective segments of k-space lines. In some aspects, the k-space lines acquired by each shot are consecutive in a phase encoding direction of k-space and each shot acquires the segments of k-space lines acquired by prior shots in the sequence, and a time delay between the inversion recovery preparation pulse and acquisition of a first segment for each shot is equal. In other aspects, each shot acquires its respective segment using interleaved reordering and the time delay between the inversion recovery preparation pulse and acquisition of the respective segment for each shot is different.

Shot-wise inversion time adaptation for multi-shot inversion recovery imaging

A method for correcting image inhomogeneity includes acquiring a non-normalized image and a reference image using receiver coils. A high-signal mask and a low-signal mask are created. Each pixel in the high-signal mask is set to a predetermined integer value if the reference image pixel at the same specific location has a value above a threshold value. Each pixel in the low-signal mask is set to the predetermined integer value if the reference image pixel at the same specific location has a value below or equal to the threshold value. A coil normalization map is created by smoothing the reference image with filters. Then, an iterative procedure is performed to update the coil normalization map using the high-signal mask and the low-signal mask. Following the iterative procedure, the non-normalized image is divided by the current coil normalization map to yield a normalized image.

Magnetic resonance imaging coil normalization by using a reference image

Systems, methods, and techniques for mitigating retail theft include securing items at a receptacle of a retailer via an electronic lock, and providing a transceiver that is proximate to the secured items and that transmits a beacon which may be detected by a personal electronic device (PED) of a customer. Based on a wireless transmission between the PED and the transceiver, a customer's identity may be determined and the customer's risk profile may be accessed. A risk score corresponding to the customer accessing the secured item may be determined based on the customer's risk profile and optionally based upon a profile of the secured item. If the risk score is indicative of an acceptable risk, a trigger to remotely unlock the electronic lock may be sent, thereby remotely and automatically allowing qualified customers to access secured items. An item's removal may be detected and tracked.

A magnetic resonance imaging system and method are provided for improved phase-sensitive magnetic resonance imaging of tissues affected by cardiovascular pulsatile motion. A magnetically-prepared image dataset and corresponding reference image dataset (for phase sensitivity) are obtained within the duration of a single cardiac cycle. The paired datasets can be single-shot or segmented datasets and a navigator sequence can optionally be provided with each paired dataset. The system and method take advantage of the shape symmetry of the cardiac cycle to acquire the paired dataset in a shorter time interval, thereby reducing misregistration artifacts. The magnetic preparation can include inversion recovery pulses, FIDDLE sequences, other magnetic preparation sequences, or combinations thereof. The reference dataset can be acquired at a lower resolution than the corresponding magnetically-prepared dataset without compromising image quality.

Systems and methods for phase-sensitive inversion recovery MR imaging with reduced sensitivity to cardiac motion

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems and methods using adiabatic tip-down and matched adiabatic flip-back pulses are disclosed. According to an aspect, a system includes a signal generator configured to generate a pulse sequence for on-resonance magnetization transfer preparation. The pulse sequence includes an adiabatic tip-down pulse and a matched adiabatic flip-back pulse for separating spins in a mobile spin pool from spins in a bound spin pool of an anatomical region of interest for imaging. The system includes radio frequency (RF) coils configured to transmit RF pulses in response to the pulse sequence and to acquire RF data in response to transmission of the RF pulses. Further, the system includes a processing system configured to process the RF data to provide a display image indicating different tissue types with discrimination.

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Chapel Hill, NC, United States of America

Raymond J Kim