Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and method with wireless transmission of compressed echo signals that are expanded and extracted at the receiver

Abstract

According to one embodiment, an MRI apparatus includes a probe unit and a control/imaging unit. The probe unit includes a probe, a converter, a compressor and a transmitter. The control/imaging unit includes a receiver, an expander and a reconstructor. The probe detects an RF echo signal generated in a subject by a magnetic resonance phenomenon. The converter digitizes the detected signal. The compressor compresses the digitized signal in accordance with a predetermined compression parameter to obtain a compressed signal. The transmitter generates a transmission signal to wirelessly transmit the compressed echo signal and sends the transmission signal to a radio channel. The receiver receives the transmission signal and extracts the compressed signal from the received signal. The expander expands the extracted compressed signal in accordance with the parameter to obtain the RF echo signal. The reconstructor generates a video signal regarding the subject on the basis of the obtained signal.