Selection of magnetic resonance fingerprinting dictionaries for anatomical regions

A method of operating a magnetic resonance imaging system for acquiring magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF) magnetic resonance data from a subject within a region of interest, wherein the method comprises:

• acquiring the MRF magnetic resonance data for the region of interest by controlling the magnetic resonance imaging system with MRF pulse sequence commands, wherein the MRF pulse sequence commands are configured for controlling the magnetic resonance imaging system to acquire the MRF magnetic resonance data according to a magnetic resonance fingerprinting protocol and reconstructing MR fingerprints from the MRF magnetic resonance data;
• receiving magnetic resonance data descriptive of the region of interest;
• identifying anatomical regions within the region of interest in the magnetic resonance data using an anatomical model;
• selecting a local magnetic resonance fingerprinting dictionary from a set of magnetic resonance fingerprinting dictionaries for each of the anatomical regions, wherein the local magnetic resonance fingerprinting dictionary comprises a listing of calculated MRF signals for a set of predetermined substances specific to each of the anatomical regions;
• and
• calculating a composition mapping of the predetermined substances for each of the anatomical regions using the MR fingerprints and the local magnetic resonance fingerprinting dictionary, wherein the composition mapping is a spatial average of voxels within each of the anatomical regions.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing machine executable instructions for execution by a processor controlling a magnetic resonance imaging system, wherein execution of the machine executable instructions causes the processor to:

• acquire magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF) magnetic resonance data for a region of interest by controlling the magnetic resonance imaging system with MRF pulse sequence commands, wherein the MRF pulse sequence commands are configured for controlling the magnetic resonance imaging system to acquire the MRF magnetic resonance data according to a magnetic resonance fingerprinting protocol and reconstruct MR fingerprints from the MRF magnetic resonance data;
• receive magnetic resonance data descriptive of the region of interest;
• identify anatomical regions within the region of interest in the magnetic resonance data using an anatomical model;
• select a local magnetic resonance fingerprinting dictionary from a set of magnetic resonance fingerprinting dictionaries for each of the anatomical regions, wherein the local magnetic resonance fingerprinting dictionary comprises a listing of calculated MRF signals for a set of predetermined substances specific to each of the anatomical regions;
• and
• calculate a composition mapping of the predetermined substances for each of the anatomical regions using the MR fingerprints and the local magnetic resonance fingerprinting dictionary, wherein the composition mapping is a spatial average of voxels within each of the anatomical regions.