Automated detection of critical stations in multi-station magnetic resonance imaging

A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, comprising:

• an MRI scanner with a bore and a table for supporting a patient;
• an optical camera configured to capture an optical image of the patient lying on the table before start of a diagnostic scan with the MRI scanner;
• a processing unit for identifying critical stations in a multi-station scan that are potentially affected by a respiratory motion of the patient during the multi-station scan;
• and
• a patient-instruction device configured to provide a breathing instruction for the patient for the identified critical stations,
• wherein the processing unit is configured to:
• receive image data of the optical image of the patient lying on the table via an input unit;
• identify a spatial location of a lung of the patient based on the received image data of the patient;
• align the spatial location of the lung of the patient with the multi-station scan to identify the critical stations, and to assign breath-hold to the identified critical stations;
• and
• provide the identified critical stations to the patient-instruction device.

A method for detecting critical stations in a multi-station scan, comprising:

• receiving image data taken from a patient lying on a table before start of a diagnostic scan with a magnetic resonance imaging system, wherein the image data comprises an optical image captured by an optical camera;
• identifying a spatial location of a lung of the patient based on the image data of the patient;
• aligning the spatial location of the lung of the patient with a planned multi-station scan to identify the critical stations that are potentially affected by a respiratory motion of the patient and assigning breath-hold to the identified critical stations;
• and
• providing the identified critical stations.