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US 6,586,934 B2Granted
Method and apparatus for nuclear magnetic resonance imaging
AssigneeEsaote S.p.A.
InventorsEugenio Biglieri, Marino Palazzolo, Luigi Satragno
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Abstract
A method of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance imaging includes the formation of a panoramic image or an image of a wide region of the body under examination, by obtaining a certain number of images (I, I′, I″, I′″) from several limited regions of the body under examination (C) and by combining said images in a panoramic image (P). The individual images (I, I′, I″, I′″) are obtained by moving the body under examination (C) in a certain direction and to a predetermined extent relative to the magnetic structure (1) and/or to the imaging volume (1) generated thereby. The invention also relates to an apparatus for implementing said method.
Claims60
A method of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance imaging, which method comprises:
- a) generating a static magnetic field in an imaging volume;
- b) introducing a part of a body in said imaging volume for examination in a first imaging position;
- c) generating magnetic field gradients in several different spatial directions to select a scan slice of the body under examination and to phase-encode nuclear spins in the selected slice;
- d) generating sequences of electromagnetic signals to excite the nuclear spins of the body part introduced in the imaging volume;
- e) receiving resonance signals emitted by the nuclear spins and processing the received resonance signals to extract information therefrom and to reconstruct corresponding images which relate only to a predetermined limited region of the body part to be examined;
- f) displacing the body part to be examined a predetermined extent from said first imaging position to a second imaging position, parameters associated with said displacement being stored;
- g) repeating said steps c) through f) for further regions of the body part under examination corresponding to further relative positions between the body and the imaging volume, by displacing the body part in predetermined directions relative to the imaging volume;
- and
- h) limiting the useful imaging volume permeated by the magnetic field to ensure proper Nuclear Magnetic Resonance imaging, in all spatial directions with reference to the predetermined limited region of the body part under examination, the body part under examination being displaced relative to said imaging volume in the three spatial directions.
6 more elements
An apparatus for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance imaging, which apparatus comprises:
- a) a magnetic structure for generating a static field in a predetermined volume inside an imaging cavity and with at least one opening to provide access to said imaging cavity;
- b) at least one transmitting coil and at least one receiving coil;
- c) at least one gradient coil;
- d) a processor for processing resonance signals to transform the resonance signals into displayable image signals;
- e) a display for displaying image signals;
- f) a displacer for relative displacement of the body under examination and of the magnetic structure;
- g) a control device for adjustment of Field of View size.
4 more elements
An apparatus as claimed in clam 37, further comprising:
- h) means for measuring displacement direction/s and distances;
- i) means for relating resonance signals to the relevant parameters of relative positioning of the body under examination and of the magnetic structure;
- j) means for storing the different images and their respective position parameters;
- k) processing means for combining images.
1 more element
A method of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance imaging, which method includes the following steps:
- a) generating a static magnetic field in an imaging volume;
- b) introducing a body or a part of said body in said imaging volume for examination in a first imaging position;
- c) generating magnetic field gradients in several different spatial directions to select the scan slice of the body under examination and to phase-encode nuclear spins in the selected slice;
- d) generating sequences of electromagnetic signals to excite the nuclear spins of the body introduced in the imaging volume;
- e) receiving resonance signals emitted by the nuclear spins and processing the received resonance signals to extract information therefrom and to reconstruct a corresponding image having a field of view of a first dimension;
- f) displacing the body to be examined a predetermined extent from said first imaging position to a second imaging position, parameters associated with said displacement being stored;
- g) repeating steps c through f for further regions of the body part under examination corresponding to further relative positions between the body and the imaging volume, by displacing the body or the part thereof in predetermined directions relative to the imaging volume until a desired part of the body is imaged;
- and
- h) after a region of interest is defined, performing acquisition scanning with sequences intended to reconstruct a corresponding image having a field of view of a second dimension that is larger than the first dimension.
6 more elements
An apparatus for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance imaging, which apparatus comprises:
- a) a magnetic structure for generating a static field in a predetermined volume inside an imaging cavity and with at least one opening to provide access to said imaging cavity;
- b) at least one transmitting coil and at least one receiving coil;
- c) at least one gradient coil;
- d) a processor for processing resonance signals to transform the resonance signals into displayable image signals;
- e) a display for displaying image signals;
- f) a displacer for relative displacement of the body under examination and of the magnetic structure;
- g) means for separate or combined adjustment of size so that the apparatus can selectively operate in a first mode to define a region of interest in a body to be examined using a first level of size, and then switch to a second mode to perform acquisition scanning with a second level of size, wherein the second level of size provides a better image than the first level of size.
4 more elements
An apparatus for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance imaging, which apparatus comprises:
- a) a magnetic structure for generating a static field in a predetermined volume inside an imaging cavity and with at least one opening to provide access to said imaging cavity;
- b) at least one transmitting coil and at least one receiving coil;
- c) at least one gradient coil;
- d) a processor for processing resonance signals to transform the resonance signals into displayable image signals;
- e) a display for displaying image signals;
- f) a displacer for relative displacement of the body under examination and of the magnetic structure in three spatial directions;
- g) means for separate or combined adjustment of size so that the apparatus can selectively operate in a first mode to define a region of interest in a body to be examined using a first level of size, and then switch to a second mode to perform acquisition scanning with a second level of size, wherein the second level of size provides a better image than the first level of size.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.