Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and magnetic resonance imaging method

A magnetic resonance imaging method implemented by a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, the method comprising:

• acquiring a first piece of data by executing a first pulse sequence having a first Echo Time (TE) value;
• acquiring a second piece of data by executing a second pulse sequence having a second TE value different from the first TE value, wherein the second TE value causes a signal of protons of a first fat and a signal of protons of a second fat to have phases opposite to each other;
• acquiring a third piece of data by executing a third pulse sequence having a third TE value different from the first and the second TE values, wherein the first pulse sequence, the second pulse sequence, and the third pulse sequence are executed such that a center frequency is equal to a frequency corresponding to a chemical shift of a fat;
• and
• extracting a signal related to water, a signal related to the first fat, and a signal related to the second fat, based on the first piece of data, the second piece of data, and the third piece of data, and based on values of a chemical shift of the water, a chemical shift of the first fat, and a chemical shift of the second fat;
• wherein the method further comprises
• executing the first pulse sequence by using the first TE value that causes a signal of the first fat and a signal of the second fat to be in-phase with each other,
• executing the second pulse sequence by using the second TE value that causes the signal of the first fat and the signal of the second fat to be out of phase with each other, and
• executing the third pulse sequence by using the third TE value that causes the signal of the first fat and the signal of the second fat to be out of phase with each other;
• and
• the method comprises executing only three pulse sequences, which are the first pulse sequence, the second pulse sequence and the third pulse sequence.

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, comprising:

• sequence controlling circuitry configured to acquire a first piece of data by executing a first pulse sequence having a first Echo Time (TE) value, to acquire a second piece of data by executing a second pulse sequence having a second TE value different from the first TE value, and to acquire a third piece of data by executing a third pulse sequence having a third TE value different from the first and the second TE values, wherein the first pulse sequence, the second pulse sequence, and the third pulse sequence are executed such that a center frequency is equal to a frequency corresponding to a chemical shift of a fat;
• and
• processing circuitry configured to extract a signal related to water, a signal related to a first fat, and a signal related to a second fat, based on the first piece of data, the second piece of data, and the third piece of data, and based on values of a chemical shift of the water, a chemical shift of the first fat, and a chemical shift of the second fat;
• wherein the second pulse sequence is executed such that the second TE value causes a signal of aliphatic protons and a signal of olefinic fat protons to have phases opposite to each other;
• the sequence controlling circuitry is further configured to
• execute the first pulse sequence by using the first TE value that causes a signal of the first fat and a signal of the second fat to be in-phase with each other,
• execute the second pulse sequence by using the second TE value that causes the signal of the first fat and the signal of the second fat to be out of phase with each other, and
• execute the third pulse sequence by using the third TE value that causes the signal of the first fat and the signal of the second fat to be out of phase with each other;
• and
• the sequence controlling circuitry is configured to execute only three pulse sequences, which are the first pulse sequence, the second pulse sequence, and the third pulse sequence.

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, comprising:

• sequence controlling circuitry configured to acquire a first piece of data by executing a first pulse sequence having a first Echo Time (TE) value, to acquire a second piece of data by executing a second pulse sequence having a second TE value different from the first TE value, and to acquire a third piece of data by executing a third pulse sequence having a third TE value different from the first and the second TE values, wherein the first pulse sequence, the second pulse sequence, and the third pulse sequence are executed such that a center frequency is equal to a frequency corresponding to a chemical shift of a fat;
• and
• processing circuitry configured to extract a signal related to water, a signal related to a first fat, and a signal related to a second fat, based on the first piece of data, the second piece of data, and the third piece of data, and based on values of a chemical shift of the water, a chemical shift of the first fat, and a chemical shift of the second fat;
• wherein the second pulse sequence is executed such that the second TE value causes a signal of aliphatic protons and a signal of unsaturated fat protons to have phases opposite to each other;
• the sequence controlling circuitry is further configured to
• execute the first pulse sequence by using the first TE value that causes a signal of the first fat and a signal of the second fat to be in-phase with each other,
• execute the second pulse sequence by using the second TE value that causes the signal of the first fat and the signal of the second fat to be out of phase with each other, and
• execute the third pulse sequence by using the third TE value that causes the signal of the first fat and the signal of the second fat to be out of phase with each other;
• and
• the sequence controlling circuitry is configured to execute only three pulse sequences, which are the first pulse sequence, the second pulse sequence, and the third pulse sequence.

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, comprising:

• sequence controlling circuitry configured to acquire a first piece of data by executing a first pulse sequence having a first Echo Time (TE) value, to acquire a second piece of data by executing a second pulse sequence having a second TE value different from the first TE value, and to acquire a third piece of data by executing a third pulse sequence having a third TE value different from the first and the second TE values, wherein the first pulse sequence, the second pulse sequence, and the third pulse sequence are executed such that a center frequency is equal to a frequency corresponding to a chemical shift of a fat;
• and
• processing circuitry configured to extract a signal related to water, a signal related to a first fat, and a signal related to a second fat, based on the first piece of data, the second piece of data, and the third piece of data, and based on values of a chemical shift of the water, a chemical shift of the first fat, and a chemical shift of the second fat;
• wherein the second pulse sequence is executed such that the second TE value causes a signal of aliphatic protons and a signal of polyunsaturated fat protons to have phases opposite to each other;
• the sequence controlling circuitry is further configured to
• execute the first pulse sequence by using the first TE value that causes a signal of the first fat and a signal of the second fat to be in-phase with each other,
• execute the second pulse sequence by using the second TE value that causes the signal of the first fat and the signal of the second fat to be out of phase with each other, and
• execute the third pulse sequence by using the third TE value that causes the signal of the first fat and the signal of the second fat to be out of phase with each other;
• and
• the sequence controlling circuitry is configured to execute only three pulse sequences, which are the first pulse sequence, the second pulse sequence, and the third pulse sequence.

A magnetic resonance imaging method implemented by a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, the method comprising:

• acquiring a first piece of data by executing a first pulse sequence having a first Echo Time (TE) value;
• acquiring a second piece of data by executing a second pulse sequence having a second TE value different from the first TE value;
• acquiring a third piece of data by executing a third pulse sequence having a third TE value different from the first and the second TE values, wherein the first pulse sequence, the second pulse sequence, and the third pulse sequence are executed such that a center frequency is equal to a frequency corresponding to a chemical shift of a fat;
• and
• extracting a signal related to water, a signal related to a first fat, and a signal related to a second fat, based on the first piece of data, the second piece of data, and the third piece of data,
• wherein the second pulse sequence is executed such that the second TE value causes a signal of aliphatic protons and a signal of olefinic fat protons to have phases opposite to each other, based on values of a chemical shift of the water, a chemical shift of the first fat, and a chemical shift of the second fat;
• and
• the method further comprises
• executing the first pulse sequence by using the first TE value that causes a signal of the first fat and a signal of the second fat to be in-phase with each other,
• executing the second pulse sequence by using the second TE value that causes the signal of the first fat and the signal of the second fat to be out of phase with each other, and
• executing the third pulse sequence by using the third TE value that causes the signal of the first fat and the signal of the second fat to be out of phase with each other;
• and
• the method comprises executing only three pulse sequences, which are the first pulse sequence, the second pulse sequence and the third pulse sequence.

A magnetic resonance imaging method implemented by a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, the method comprising:

• acquiring a first piece of data by executing a first pulse sequence having a first Echo Time (TE) value;
• acquiring a second piece of data by executing a second pulse sequence having a second TE value different from the first TE value;
• acquiring a third piece of data by executing a third pulse sequence having a third TE value different from the first and the second TE values, wherein the first pulse sequence, the second pulse sequence, and the third pulse sequence are executed such that a center frequency is equal to a frequency corresponding to a chemical shift of a fat;
• and
• extracting a signal related to water, a signal related to a first fat, and a signal related to a second fat, based on the first piece of data, the second piece of data, and the third piece of data, and based on values of a chemical shift of the water, a chemical shift of the first fat, and a chemical shift of the second fat;
• wherein the second pulse sequence is executed such that the second TE value causes a signal of aliphatic protons and a signal of unsaturated fat protons to have phases opposite to each other;
• the method further comprises
• executing the first pulse sequence by using the first TE value that causes a signal of the first fat and a signal of the second fat to be in-phase with each other,
• executing the second pulse sequence by using the second TE value that causes the signal of the first fat and the signal of the second fat to be out of phase with each other, and
• executing the third pulse sequence by using the third TE value that causes the signal of the first fat and the signal of the second fat to be out of phase with each other;
• and
• the method comprises executing only three pulse sequences, which are the first pulse sequence, the second pulse sequence and the third pulse sequence.

A magnetic resonance imaging method implemented by a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, the method comprising:

• acquiring a first piece of data by executing a first pulse sequence having a first Echo Time (TE) value;
• acquiring a second piece of data by executing a second pulse sequence having a second TE value different from the first TE value;
• acquiring a third piece of data by executing a third pulse sequence having a third TE value different from the first and the second TE values, wherein the first pulse sequence, the second pulse sequence, and the third pulse sequence are executed such that a center frequency is equal to a frequency corresponding to a chemical shift of a fat;
• and
• extracting a signal related to water, a signal related to a first fat, and a signal related to a second fat, based on the first piece of data, the second piece of data, and the third piece of data, and based on values of a chemical shift of the water, a chemical shift of the first fat, and a chemical shift of the second fat;
• wherein the second pulse sequence is executed such that the second TE value causes a signal of aliphatic protons and a signal of polyunsaturated fat protons to have phases opposite to each other;
• the method further comprises
• executing the first pulse sequence by using the first TE value that causes a signal of the first fat and a signal of the second fat to be in-phase with each other,
• executing the second pulse sequence by using the second TE value that causes the signal of the first fat and the signal of the second fat to be out of phase with each other, and
• executing the third pulse sequence by using the third TE value that causes the signal of the first fat and the signal of the second fat to be out of phase with each other;
• and
• the method comprises executing only three pulse sequences, which are the first pulse sequence, the second pulse sequence and the third pulse sequence.