Neuronal activity mapping using phase-based susceptibility-enhanced functional magnetic resonance imaging
AssigneeMayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
InventorsNorbert G. Campeau, Matthew A. Bernstein, Clifton R. Haider, John Huston, III, Nolan K. Meyer, Joshua D. Trzasko
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Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (“fMRI”) processing that makes use of both the magnitude and phase information contained in magnetic resonance signals is implemented to enhance the visualization of blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (“BOLD”) fMRI activation. As a result, the functional activation maps generated with these techniques are more sensitive to subtle neuronal activity than maps generated with conventional fMRI techniques, which utilize only magnitude information.
Claims13
A method for generating a functional activation map indicative of neuronal activity in a subject, the method comprising:
- (a) accessing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data with a computer system, wherein the fMRI data comprise a time-series of complex-valued images, wherein each of the complex-valued images contains both magnitude information and phase information, the time-series of images being acquired from a subject using an MRI system;
- (b) extracting phase images from the fMRI data using the computer system, wherein each phase image depicts the phase information in the fMRI data;
- (c) generating a plurality of phase masks from the phase images with the computer system, wherein each of the plurality of phase masks scales the phase information in the phase image to a range of values;
- (d) generating susceptibility-enhanced images with the computer system by applying the plurality of phase masks to the magnitude information in the fMRI data, generating output as the susceptibility-enhanced images;
- and
- (e) generating a functional activation map from the susceptibility-enhanced images using the computer system, wherein the functional activation map depicts neuronal activity that occurred in the subject when the fMRI data were acquired,
- wherein generating the plurality of phase masks comprises generating, for each phase image, a diamagnetic phase mask that enhances phase values corresponding to diamagnetic effects.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.