Method and apparatus for allocating acquired magnetic resonance data to respective movement states of the subject

A magnetic resonance (MR) apparatus comprising:

• an MR data acquisition scanner;
• a computer configured to operate said MR data acquisition scanner to acquire sets of MR diagnostic data from a subject that represent at least one region of the subject, said subject exhibiting N different movement states during acquisition of said sets of MR diagnostic data;
• said computer being configured to also operate said MR data acquisition scanner to acquire a plurality of MR navigator data sets from the subject that are respectively associated with individual ones of said sets of MR diagnostic data;
• said computer being configured to receive the acquired sets of MR diagnostic data and the acquired plurality of MR navigator data sets and to execute a cluster analysis on said plurality of MR navigator data sets to identify similarities among the respective MR navigator data sets and to allocate similar MR navigator data sets to a respective movement state of said subject, among said N movement states, so that each MR navigator data set in said plurality of MR navigator data sets is respectively allocated to one of said N movement states;
• and
• said computer being configured to allocate the acquired sets of MR diagnostic data to the respective N movement states to which the MR navigator data set associated therewith was allocated, and to make the plurality of MR navigator data sets respectively allocated to movement states, and the sets of MR diagnostic data allocated to the N movement states, available from the computer in electronic form as a data file.

A method for acquiring magnetic resonance (MR) data from a living subject, comprising:

• operating an MR data acquisition scanner to acquire a plurality of MR navigator data sets from a subject, said subject exhibiting movement, exhibiting a primary movement direction, during acquisition of said MR navigator data sets;
• operating said MR data acquisition scanner to acquire said plurality of MR navigator data sets by radiating at least one radio-frequency (RF) excitation pulse that excites nuclear spins in at least one excitation volume of the subject and by activating a readout gradient in a readout direction that is parallel to said primary movement direction;
• also operating said MR data acquisition scanner to acquire MR signals from at least one region of the subject;
• and
• operating said MR data acquisition scanner to acquire said MR signals by radiating at least one RF excitation pulse, which is identical to said at least one RF excitation pulse used to acquire said MR navigator data sets, that excites at least one RF excitation volume in the subject, that is identical to the at least one RF excitation volume excited by the at least one RF excitation pulse for acquiring said MR navigator data sets, said at least one RF excitation volume from which said MR signals are acquired being comprised in said region of said subject.

A magnetic resonance apparatus comprising:

• an MR data acquisition scanner;
• a computer configured to operate said MR data acquisition scanner to acquire a plurality of MR navigator data sets from a subject, said subject exhibiting movement, exhibiting a primary movement direction, during acquisition of said MR navigator data sets;
• a computer configured to operate said MR data acquisition scanner to acquire said plurality of MR navigator data sets by radiating at least one radio-frequency (RF) excitation pulse that excites nuclear spins in at least one excitation volume of the subject and by activating a readout gradient in a readout direction that is parallel to said primary movement direction;
• a computer configured to also operate said MR data acquisition scanner to acquire MR signals from at least one region of the subject;
• and
• a computer configured to operate said MR data acquisition scanner to acquire said MR signals by radiating at least one RF excitation pulse, which is identical to said at least one RF excitation pulse used to acquire said MR navigator data sets, that excites at least one RF excitation volume in the subject, that is identical to the at least one RF excitation volume excited by the at least one RF excitation pulse for acquiring said MR navigator data sets, said at least one RF excitation volume from which said MR signals are acquired being comprised in said region of said subject.

A non-transitory, computer-readable data storage medium encoded with programming instructions, said storage medium being loaded into a computer system of a magnetic resonance (MR) apparatus that comprises an MR data acquisition scanner, said programming instructions causing said computer system to:

• operate said MR data acquisition scanner to acquire sets of MR diagnostic data from a living subject that represent at least one region of the subject, said subject exhibiting N different movement states during acquisition of said sets of MR diagnostic data;
• also operate said MR data acquisition scanner to acquire a plurality of MR navigator data sets from the subject that are respectively associated with individual ones of said sets of MR diagnostic data;
• receive the acquired sets of MR diagnostic data and the acquired plurality of MR navigator data sets and apply a cluster analysis to said plurality of MR navigator data sets to identify similarities among the respective MR navigator data sets and to allocate similar MR navigator data sets to a respective movement state of said subject, among said N movement states, so that each MR navigator data set in said plurality of MR navigator data sets is respectively allocated to one of said N movement states;
• and
• allocate the acquired sets of MR diagnostic data to the respective N movement states to which the MR navigator data set associated therewith was allocated, and make the plurality of MR navigator data sets respectively allocated to movement states, and the sets of MR diagnostic data allocated to the N movement states, available from the computer in electronic form as a data file.

A non-transitory, computer-readable data storage medium encoded with programming instructions, said storage medium being loaded into a computer system of a magnetic resonance (MR) apparatus that comprises an MR data acquisition scanner, said programming instructions causing said computer system to:

• operate said MR data acquisition scanner to acquire a plurality of MR navigator data sets from a subject, said subject exhibiting movement, exhibiting a primary movement direction, during acquisition of said MR navigator data sets;
• operate said MR data acquisition scanner to acquire said plurality of MR navigator data sets by radiating at least one radio-frequency (RF) excitation pulse that excites nuclear spins in at least one excitation volume of the subject and by activating a readout gradient in a readout direction that is parallel to said primary movement direction;
• also operate said MR data acquisition scanner to acquire MR signals from at least one region of the subject;
• and
• operate said MR data acquisition scanner to acquire said MR signals by radiating at least one RF excitation pulse, which is identical to said at least one RF excitation pulse used to acquire said MR navigator data sets, that excites at least one RF excitation volume in the subject, that is identical to the at least one RF excitation volume excited by the at least one RF excitation pulse for acquiring said MR navigator data sets, said at least one RF excitation volume from which said MR signals are acquired being comprised in said region of said subject.