Picker International, Inc.

Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

Yansun Xu

Kecheng Liu

Haiying Liu

Wayne R Dannels

Mark J Loncar

Paul M Margosian

Jasjit S Suri

Ruhul Quddus

A medical imaging display system includes a memory ( ) for storing first image data representative of a region of interest. The memory ( ) stores image data generated by medical imaging devices such as magnetic resonance devices ( ), computed tomography devices ( ), nuclear imaging devices ( ), and ultrasound devices. Typically, image data from these devices is obtained some time prior to a surgical event and users may access this data in planning for the surgical event. A processor ( ), in data communication with the memory, is organized under a component object modeling architecture. The processor ( ) is connected to a user interface ( ) for providing user requests to the processor. Thus, in response to user action via the user interface ( ), the processor ( ) determines an object ( ) adapted to act on the request, selects a handle ( ) for the determined object and, employs the object via the handle to act on the request. Additionally, the image guided surgical system also includes a source ( ) of substantially real time image data generated in the surgical theater, such as spectroscopy devices, which can also be manipulated via software objects to display desired portions of the region of interest. Any of these images can be viewed on a display ( ) in a planning environment, in the surgical suite, or even by a consultant, geographically remote from the surgical site.

Method and apparatus for medical image display for surgical tool planning and navigation in clinical environments

A plurality of multiple echo imaging sequences are generated and sampled to fill k-space. Each multiple echo sequence includes a plurality of phase and frequency encoded image data echoes and a navigator echo, preferably at the end of the sequence. The navigator echoes are separated from the image data and analyzed to determine their relative phase angle and amplitude. More specifically to a preferred embodiment, a unit vector whose orientation is indicative of navigator echo phase angle relative to a reference angle is determined for each navigator echo. An amplitude correction value indicative of the amplitude of each navigator echo relative to a reference amplitude, such as an average navigator echo amplitude, is determined. The image date is adjusted with the relative phase angle and amplitude of the navigator echo from the same multiple echo sequence.

On-the-fly removal of data inconsistency with k-space oversampling and demodulation in MRI acquisitions

Resonance is excited in a first slab (12) and manipulated to generate a plurality of data lines (16, 18) which span a fraction of k-space, e.g. a quarter of the phase encoding steps along a y-direction. Resonance is then excited in a second slab (22) displaced from the first slab and another series of data lines are generated. A resonance is excited and data lines generated in a plurality of additional slabs (32, 42). A resonance is excited in a slab (52) which partially overlaps the slab (12), e.g., has three of four slices in common. A series of data lines in the slab (52) are phase encoded with a different fraction of k-space. Two sets of differently phase encoded data sets have been generated in the example of FIGS. 2a and 2b. This process is cyclically repeated exciting in slabs which partially overlap proceedingly generated slabs, each time generating a different fraction of the data lines until a completed set of data is generated in an extended volume larger than one slab, slices 4-16 in the example of FIGS. 2a and 2b.

Multi-volume slicing and interleaved phase-encoding acquisition for 3 D

Within a selected slice or slab, diffusion sensitizing gradients (54, 56) and read gradients (66, 68) are induced along each of a pair of orthogonal axes (G.sub.x, G.sub.y). The motion sensitizing gradient pulses sensitize excited magnetic resonance to diffusion in a preselected diffusion direction (D) which is orthogonal to a selected read gradient direction. The diffusion sensitizing gradients are rotated by sin(.theta.+.pi./2) and cos(.theta.+.pi./2) and the read gradients are rotated by sin.theta. and cos.theta. to generate a plurality of angularly displaced data lines. The diffusion sensitivity direction remains perpendicular to the read direction in each of the angularly displaced data lines. The phase of each data line is determined (90) and shifted (94) to compensate for linear translations. The data values within each data line are shifted (86) to center the peak amplitude of the data line at a preselected position to compensate for higher order motion. The set of angularly incremented data lines are reconstructed (96) into an image representation (98). In one embodiment, a plurality of the images are generated, each from data lines with their peak value shifted to a location which is offset by a fraction of a sample relative to the data lines which constructed the other images. Corresponding patches of these corresponding images are examined (110) for phase. Based on the examination, the one of the corresponding patches with the best image quality is transferred to a final image memory (114). In this manner, the final image is made up of the best patches of a plurality of corresponding images.

Rotating diffusion MR imaging reduced motion artifacts

When a magnetic resonance imaging sequence is retrieved from memory (58), one of the slice select, phase-encode to read gradient profiles are retrieved for one of the slice select, phase-encode, read gradients. The two gradient profiles have a common field of view if a read gradient or slice thickness if a slice select gradient, but have different motion sensitizations. The reference gradient profile G.sub.1 stored in a memory (52) and the motion sensitized gradient profile G.sub.2 stored in a memory (56) are weighted (60, 62) by weighting functions .alpha..sub.1, .alpha..sub.2 which are selected in accordance with the selected motion sensitivity and a selected one of the field of view or slice thickness. The weighted profiles are combined (64) to generate a motion sensitized gradient with the selected motion sensitivity, field of view or slice thickness. The combined weighted gradient profile and the reference gradient profile are used in imaging sequences to generate reference and motion sensitized data lines (82, 84) which are reconstructed (86) into a reference image representation and a motion sensitized image representation. A moving tissue only image representation can be obtained (88) as well.

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Solon, OH, United States of America

Yansun Xu