Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Inc.

The Johns Hopkins University

National Institutes of Health, a Component of the US Dept. of Health & Human Services

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

The United States of America As Represented by the Department of Health

Reza Nezafat

Mehmet Akcakaya

Warren J Manning

Peng Hu

Tamer Basha

Elliot R McVeigh

Matthias Stuber

Sebastian Weingartner

Ronald Ouwerkerk

Mehdi Hedjazi Moghari

Jaime Shaw

Richard Thompson

Keigo Kawaji

J Andrew Derbyshire

Rui Guo

Sebastian Weingärtner

Gulaka Praveen

Sebastien Roujol

Mehmet Akçakaya

Yongjun Kwak

A system for quantitative parameter mapping using magnetic resonance (MR) image includes an input for receiving a plurality of weighted MR images of a subject and a corresponding at least one imaging parameter for the plurality of weighted MR images, and a quantitative parameter mapping neural network coupled to the input and configured to estimate at least one tissue parameter and generate at least one quantitative map for the at least one tissue parameter based on the plurality of weighted MR images of the subject and the corresponding at least one imaging parameter. The quantitative parameter mapping neural network can be trained using a set of training data utilizing at least one confounder for the quantification of the at least one tissue parameter. The system can further include a display coupled to the quantitative parameter mapping neural network to display the at least one quantitative map.

System and method for quantitative parameter mapping using magnetic resonance images

A system and method for controlling a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system to acquire images of a subject having inconsistencies in a cardiac cycle of the subject. The process includes receiving an identification of a predetermined point in a cardiac cycle of the subject and, thereupon, performing a saturation module configured to dephase magnetization within a region of interest (ROI) from before the predetermined point. The process also includes performing an inversion module configured to invert spins within the ROI and acquiring medical imaging data from the subject. A delay is inserted between the performance of the saturation module and the performance of the inversion module, wherein a duration of the delay is configured, with the saturation module, to control evidence in the medical imaging data of inconsistencies in the cardiac cycle of the subject by controlling a magnetization history of tissue in the ROI.

System and method for improved cardiac imaging of subjects with adverse cardiac conditions

An MRI method includes: performing a first data acquisition block of a pulse sequence to acquire a first MR data from a plurality of slices of a subject during a period of fully recovered longitudinal magnetization within the plurality of slices disposed at different locations in the subject; performing a second data acquisition block of the pulse sequence including a magnetization preparation module followed by a recovery period and an imaging sequence executed during the recovery period, to acquire a second MR data from the plurality of slices during the recovery period; and generating a Tmap of the subject based on the first MR data and the second MR data, of the plurality of slices.

System and method for tissue characterization using multislice magnetic resonance imaging

A system and method for producing an image of a subject with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system using an adaptive gating window with constant gating efficiency is provided. Navigator data is acquired from the subject and used to produce a gating window having a defined gating efficiency value. Image data is acquired with the MRI system while measuring a position of an anatomical location within the subject. Image data is accepted or rejected based on whether the measured anatomical location is within the gating window. The gating window is updated using the measured position of the anatomical location such that a substantially constant gating efficiency value is maintained. Imaging is repeated with the updated gating window, after which the gating window is again updated. When the desired amount of image data has been acquired, an image of the subject is reconstructed.

System and method for magnetic resonance imaging with an adaptive gating window having constant gating efficiency

An MRI apparatus includes: a data processor configured to acquire a first set of T-weighted imaging data and a second set of T-weighted imaging data; a pulse sequence controller configured to generate a pulse sequence and apply the generated pulse sequence to a gradient coil assembly and RF coil assembly, the generated pulse sequence including: T-preparation modules and associated imaging modules to acquire the first set of T-weighted imaging data, and a saturation pulse sequence and an associated saturation imaging module to acquire the second set of T-weighted imaging data; a curve fitter configured to apply the first and second sets of T-weighted imaging data to a three-parameter model for Tdecay, to determine a Tvalue at a plurality of locations; and an image processor configured to generate a Tmap of the object based on the Tvalue determined at the plurality of locations.

[object Object]

A system and method for acquiring magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images with an MRI system is provided. The system and method directs the MRI system first to produce an inversion recovery radio frequency (RF) pulse, wait for a time period, produce a T2-preparation RF pulse, wait for another time period, and then acquire data of a part of a subject. The first produced RF pulse rotates net magnetization 180 degrees about an axis. The pulse sequence used to acquire data can be any two-dimensional or three-dimensional sequence used to acquire a volume in the subject. The two waiting time periods are chosen such that the signals of two or more tissues of the subject are nulled.

Magnetic resonance imaging that nulls signals from two or more tissues to better delineate an interested tissue

An MRI method includes performing a first image acquisition module of a pulse sequence to acquire a first MR data from slices disposed at different locations in a region of interest (ROI) of an object; performing a second image acquisition module of the pulse sequence, to acquire a second MR data from the slices disposed at the different locations of the ROI, with a T2 preparation time different than that of the first image acquisition module; and generating a T2 map based on the acquired first MR data and the acquired second MR data.

Method and apparatus for multi-slice imaging of T2-relaxation time

A method and apparatus for reducing scan time, eddy currents and image factors in dynamic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging associated with at least a portion a k-space. The method includes scanning at least a portion of the k-space with an Echo-Planar Imaging (EPI) pulse sequence technique, acquiring a randomly under-sampled k-space; and reconstructing the under-sampled k-space utilizing a constrained reconstruction technique. A dynamic image is constructed of the at least a portion of the k-space based on EPI and the randomly undersampled k-space techniques to each segment of the EPI pulse sequence technique.

Methods and apparatus for reducing scan time of phase contrast MRI

A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system and methods are provided for producing images of a subject. In some aspects, a method includes identifying a point in the cardiac cycle, performing an inversion recovery (IR) pulse at a selected time point from the pre-determined point, and sampling a k-space segment at an inversion time from the IR pulse that is substantially coincident with the pre-determined point. The method also includes repeating the IR pulse and k-space sampling for multiple inversion times, and multiple segments of k-space, in an interleaved manner, to generate datasets having T1-weighted contrasts determined by their respective inversion times. The method further includes reconstructing three-dimensional (3D) spatially-aligned images using the datasets, and generating a T1 recovery map by combining the 3D images. In some aspects, a prospective/retrospective scheme may be used to obtain data fully sampled in the center of k-space and randomly undersampled in the outer regions.

System and method for free-breathing volumetric imaging of cardiac tissue

A method and apparatus for MRI retrospective reconstruction determines a period of minimal coronary artery motion within the acquired temporal window with a rotation angle optimized for a K-space four-dimensional (4D) volume by a segmented 4D radial stack-of-stars (SOS) acquisition during a temporal acquisition window (taw). Radial stacks of the image of an object are acquired by performing the radial (SOS) acquisition to determine a plurality of kplane samples of the object, in which each kplane is repeatedly determined during a sub-window of the temporal acquisition window. Consecutive volumes of kcentric slices of the image at each temporal sub-window of the temporal acquisition window are generated and summed to fill a 3D k-space volume. The radial (SOS) acquisition of the image is determined utilizing a customized rotation angle &#x3b8; providing a uniform distribution of k-space spokes of the kcentric slices for each sub-window of the (taw).

MRI methods and apparatus for flexible visualization of any subset of an enlarged temporal window

A magnetic resonance (MR) image processing system includes a data collection unit that acquires image data from a target region of an object. A navigator unit acquires a motion signal indicating motion comprising motion of at least a portion of an object. A data processing unit derives k-space data for a k-space data array from the acquired image data, by acquiring k-space data for a first portion of the k-space from the acquired image data in response to the motion signal indicating motion is within a predetermined range and acquiring k-space data for a second portion of the k-space from the acquired image data irrespective of the predetermined range.

Image processing apparatus, K-space generation method, magnetic resonance image apparatus, and control method of magnetic resonance image apparatus

A method for free-breathing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using iterative image-based respiratory motion correction is provided. An MRI system is used to acquired k-space data and navigator data from a subject. The k-space data is then sorted into a plurality of data bins using the navigator data. A motion correction parameter is estimated for each data bin and is applied to the respective k-space data in that bin. The corrected k-space data segments are then combined to form a corrected k-space data set, from which an image is reconstructed. The process may be iteratively repeated until an image quality metric is optimized; for example, until an image sharpness measure is sufficiently maximized.

Method for free-breathing magnetic resonance imaging using iterative image-based respiratory motion correction

An apparatus and method process image data, including motion corrupted data, from a magnetic resonance imaging procedure to obtain and reconstruct images for cardiac, cardiovascular, coronary arterial, and/or pulmonary vein diagnoses in a subject. The apparatus and method include a processor operating predetermined software which receives the image data, classifies the received image data as accepted image data or rejected image data, and applies a predetermined relationship between the accepted image data and the rejected image data to correct for motion of the subject and to generate and output a reconstructed image of the subject corrected for the motion from the image data, with the reconstructed image having a relatively high signal-to-noise ratio.

Method and apparatus for image enhancement in magnetic resonance imaging using motion corrupted data

An apparatus and method process magnetic resonance image (MRI) data and other data from a subject, including image data corresponding to at least one of angiographic data, four-dimensional blood flow, neurological blood flow, abdominal blood flow, and peripheral blood flow in the subject, and applies a compressed sensing (CS) reconstruction method utilizing a complex difference of the image data as a sparsifying transform for imaging of at least one of blood flow and magnetic resonance angiography to output a reconstructed image of the blood flow and magnetic resonance angiography, in the subject with increased processing speed and having high accuracy. The apparatus receives the MRI data of the fluid flow from an MRI device. The processor operates predetermined software, receives the MRI data, and applies the CS reconstruction method to generate the reconstructed image. An output device outputs the reconstructed image of the fluid flow.

Method and apparatus for accelerated phase contrast magnetic resonance angiography and blood flow imaging

A method for reconstructing an image of a subject from undersampled image data that is acquired with an imaging system, such as a magnetic resonance imaging system or computed tomography system, is provided. From the acquired undersampled image data, an image of the subject is reconstructed and used to guide further image reconstruction. For example, a low resolution image is reconstructed from a portion of the undersampled image data, such as from a portion corresponding to the center of k-space when MRI is used. From this image, a number of similarity clusters are produced and processed. The processing may be by hard thresholding, Wiener filtering, principal component pursuit, or other similar techniques. These processed similarity clusters are then used to reconstruct a final, target image of the subject using, for example, a weighted average combination of the similarity clusters.

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Newton, MA, United States of America

Reza Nezafat