Picker International, Inc.

Thomas P Orefice

Mark J Loncar

The present invention is directed to an MRI apparatus including a main magnet (,) that generates a substantially uniform temporally constant main magnetic field, B,, through an examination region (,) wherein an object being imaged is positioned. A magnetic gradient generator produces magnetic gradients in the main magnetic field across the examination region (,). A transmission system includes an RF transmitter (,) that drives an RF coil (,) which is proximate to the examination region (,). A sequence control (,) manipulates the magnetic gradient generator and the transmission system to produce an MRI pulse sequence. The MRI pulse sequence induces an initial set of contiguous spin echos and a subsequent set of gradient echos which stem from the object. A reception system includes a receiver (,) that receives and demodulates the spin and gradient echos. Ultimately, a reconstruction processor (,) reconstructs an image of the object from data collected via the reception system, and an output device produces a human viewable rendering of the image.

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Painesville Township, OH, United States of America

Thomas P Orefice