Broadband decoupling pulse trains with interleaved pauses for magnetic resonance spectroscopy
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips N.V.
InventorsThomas S. Cull, William McLemore
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A magnetic resonance apparatus includes a magnet that generates a static magnetic field, e.g., 7T, and a resonance excitation system that induces resonance in an observed nuclear species such as 13C or 31P. A decoupling delay generator introduces pauses between adjacent pulses of a decoupling pulse train configured to decouple a coupled species such as 1H. An RF amplifier whose energy shortage capacity would be exceeded by the pulse train without the pauses amplifies the pulse train with the pauses. The pauses are sufficiently short that decoupling and Nuclear Overhauser Effect enhancement are not adversely affected, but long enough to provide recovery time to the RF amplifier, e.g., 0.2 msec.
Claims19
A method of high power broadband decoupling configured for a magnetic resonance scanner, comprising acts of:
- inducing in a static magnetic field of at least 7 Tesla a magnetic resonance in an observed nuclear species;
- applying at least two decoupling pulse train-trains each including a plurality of broadband decoupling radio frequency pulses configured to decouple a spectrum of a coupled nuclear species from the observed nuclear species;
- introducing a plurality of pauses between adjacent broadband decoupling radio frequency pulses of the at least two decoupling pulse trains;
- introducing a further pause between the at least two decoupling pulse trains, wherein the further pause is longer than at least one of the plurality of pauses
- acquiring magnetic resonance data of the observed nuclear species;
- and
- performing at least one of either:
- storing the acquired magnetic resonance data in a memory OR
- displaying the acquired magnetic resonance data in an image format.
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer instructions which, when executed by a processor, configure the processor in order to perform acts of:
- inducing in a static magnetic field of at least 7 Tesla a magnetic resonance in an observed nuclear species;
- applying at least two decoupling pulse trains each including a plurality of broadband decoupling radio frequency pulses configured to decouple a spectrum of a coupled nuclear species from the observed nuclear species;
- introducing a plurality of pauses between adjacent broadband decoupling radio frequency pulses of the at least two decoupling pulse trains;
- introducing a further pause between the at least two decoupling pulse trains, wherein the further pause is longer than at least one of the plurality of pauses
- acquiring magnetic resonance data of the observed nuclear species;
- and
- performing at least one of either:
- storing the acquired magnetic resonance data in a memory OR
- displaying the acquired magnetic resonance data in an image format.
A magnetic resonance spectroscopy apparatus comprising:
- a magnet that generates a static magnetic field of at least 7 Tesla;
- a magnetic resonance excitation system configured to induce magnetic resonance in an observed nuclear species;
- a magnetic resonance data acquisition system configured to acquire magnetic resonance data of the observed nuclear species;
- a decoupling system configured to apply at least two decoupling pulse trains each including a plurality of broadband decoupling pulses that are configured to decouple a spectrum of a coupled species from the observed nuclear species;
- a decoupling delay generator configured to introduce pauses between adjacent broadband decoupling pulses of the at least two decoupling pulse trains and also configured to introduce a further pause between the at least two decoupling pulse trains, wherein the further pause is longer than at least one of the pauses introduced between adjacent broadband decoupling pulses of the at least two decoupling pulse trains;
- a processor acquiring magnetic resonance data of the observed nuclear species;
- a memory storing the magnetic resonance data acquired by the processor.
A magnetic resonance spectroscopy apparatus of high power broadband decoupling configured for magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the magnetic resonance apparatus comprising:
- means for inducing in a static magnetic field of at least 7 Tesla a magnetic resonance in an observed nuclear species;
- means for applying at least two decoupling pulse trains including a plurality of broadband decoupling radio frequency pulse configured to decouple a spectrum of a coupled nuclear species form the observed nuclear species;
- means for introducing pauses between adjacent broadband decoupling radio frequency pulses of the at least two decoupling pulse trains and introducing a further pause between the at least two decoupling pulse trains, wherein the further pause is longer than at least one of the pauses introduced between adjacent broadband decoupling pulses of the at least two decoupling pulse trains
- means for acquiring magnetic resonance data of the observed nuclear species;
- and
- means for performing at least one of either:
- storing the acquired magnetic resonance data, OR
- displaying the acquired magnetic resonance data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.