Method for the automatic measurement of acoustic resonance of a magnetic resonance tomography apparatus

A method for determining acoustic resonance in a magnetic resonance tomography apparatus, comprising the steps of:

• (a) implementing a resonance measurement in a magnetic resonance tomography apparatus by applying an excitation pulse and a plurality of alternating gradient pulses having equidistant time spacings from each other, and thereby obtaining a plurality of magnetic resonance signals;
• (b) filling a k-space matrix with said magnetic resonance signals and transforming said matrix into the image domain to obtain a representation of an image containing image artifacts, said image artifacts having an intensity in a defined region of said representation of said image;
• (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) while varying said time spacing from repetition-to-repetition;
• (d) forming a resonance curve from the intensity of the image artifacts in the respective repetitions as a function of the varied time spacing;
• and
• (e) determining a resonance of said magnetic resonance tomography apparatus from said resonance curve.

A magnetic resonance apparatus comprising:

• a magnetic resonance scanner operated by a control unit for implementing a resonance measurement by applying a plurality of alternating gradient pulses having a fixed time spacing relative to each other, applying an excitation pulse, and obtaining at least one magnetic resonance signal;
• an evaluation unit supplied with said magnetic resonance signal for evaluating said magnetic resonance signal to obtain a value of at least one parameter characterizing acoustic resonance of said magnetic resonance tomography apparatus;
• said control unit operating said scanner to repeat said resonance measurement multiple times and varying said time spacing from repetition-to-repetition, and said evaluation unit evaluating said magnetic resonance signal or each repetition;
• a processor for forming a resonance curve from the respective values of said characteristic parameter in said multiple repetitions as a function of the varied time spacing, and determining a resonance of said magnetic resonance tomography apparatus from said resonance curve.

A magnetic resonance tomography apparatus comprising:

• a magnetic resonance scanner operated by a control unit to implement a resonance measurement by applying an excitation pulse and a plurality of alternating gradient pulses having equidistant time spacings from each other, and thereby obtaining a plurality of magnetic resonance signals;
• an image computer having a memory containing a k-space matrix filled with said magnetic resonance signals and transforming said matrix into the image domain to obtain a representation of an image containing image artifacts, said image artifacts having an intensity in a defined region of said representation of said image;
• said control unit operating said scanner to repeat said resonance measurement while varying said time spacing from repetition-to-repetition;
• and
• a processor for forming a resonance curve from the intensity of the image artifacts in the respective repetitions as a function of the varied time spacing, and determining a resonance of said magnetic resonance tomography apparatus from said resonance curve.