MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING APPARATUS

• US 20100060284A1
• Filed: 09/09/2009
• Published: 03/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.), Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: SUGIURA, Satoshi
• Granted Patent: US 8,188,743 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/318
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/055 involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/3415 comprising arrays of sub-coils , i.e. phased-array coils with flexible receiver channels
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/3664 Switching for purposes other than coil coupling or decoupling, e.g. switching between a phased array mode and a quadrature mode, switching between surface coil modes of different geometrical shapes, switching from a whole body reception coil to a local reception coil or switching for automatic coil selection in moving table MR or for changing the field-of-view G01R33/3671 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/543 Control of the operation of the MR system, e.g. setting of acquisition parameters prior to or during MR data acquisition, dynamic shimming, use of one or more scout images for scan plane prescription G01R33/546 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/56383 involving motion of the sample as a whole, e.g. multistation MR or MR with continuous table motion

Abstract

According to a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) apparatus, each of buttons provided in a plurality of sections included in a receiving coil receives from an operator a selecting operation of selecting a section in which the button itself is provided. A control unit of a computer system moves a table on which a subject is placed such that the center of the section selected by receiving the selecting operation via the button is positioned at the center of a magnetic field.

Claims

1. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising:

a plurality of coils that receives a magnetic resonance signal irradiated from a subject;

a receiving coil that includes the plurality of coils;

a coil selecting unit that is provided in the receiving coil, and receives from an operator a selecting operation of selecting a coil from among the plurality of coils; and

a control unit that moves a table on which the subject is placed such that the coil selected by receiving the selecting operation by the coil selecting unit is positioned at a center of a magnetic field.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a selected-coil notifying unit that gives notice of a coil selected by receiving the selecting operation by the coil selecting unit.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the coil selecting unit receives from the operator a first selecting operation of selecting a coil to be used for a scan and to be positioned at the center of the magnetic field, and a second selecting operation of selecting a coil to be used for the scan in addition to the coil selected by the first selecting operation, and

the control unit moves the table such that the coil selected by receiving the first selecting operation by the coil selecting unit is positioned at the center of the magnetic field.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a selected-coil notifying unit that gives notice of the coil selected by receiving the first selecting operation by the coil selecting unit, and the coil selected by receiving the second selecting operation by the coil selecting unit in a distinguishable manner.

5. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the selected-coil notifying unit changes a mode of notice in accordance with one of a sensitive region and a spatial distribution of sensitivity of the coil selected by receiving the selecting operation.

6. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the selected-coil notifying unit changes a mode of notice in accordance with one of a sensitive region and a spatial distribution of sensitivity of the coil selected by receiving the selecting operation.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit measures positional relation between the center of the magnetic field and the coil selected by receiving the selecting operation based on a magnetic resonance signal received by the coil, and moves the table based on the measured positional relation.

8. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit measures positional relation between the center of the magnetic field and the coil selected by receiving the selecting operation based on a magnetic resonance signal received by the coil, and moves the table based on the measured positional relation.

9. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the control unit measures positional relation between the center of the magnetic field and the coil selected by receiving the selecting operation based on a magnetic resonance signal received by the coil, and moves the table based on the measured positional relation.

10. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the control unit measures positional relation between the center of the magnetic field and the coil selected by receiving the selecting operation based on a magnetic resonance signal received by the coil, and moves the table based on the measured positional relation.

11. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control unit measures positional relation between the center of the magnetic field and the coil selected by receiving the selecting operation based on a magnetic resonance signal received by the coil, and moves the table based on the measured positional relation.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the receiving coil includes the plurality of coils that are arranged in parallel along a longitudinal direction of the table, and

the control unit moves the table along the longitudinal direction.

13. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the receiving coil includes the plurality of coils that are arranged in parallel along a longitudinal direction of the table, and

the control unit moves the table along the longitudinal direction.

14. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

the receiving coil includes the plurality of coils that are arranged in parallel along a longitudinal direction of the table, and

the control unit moves the table along the longitudinal direction.

15. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein

the receiving coil includes the plurality of coils that are arranged in parallel along a longitudinal direction of the table, and

the control unit moves the table along the longitudinal direction.

16. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the receiving coil includes the plurality of coils that are arranged in parallel along a crosswise direction of the table, and

the control unit moves the table along the crosswise direction.

17. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the receiving coil includes the plurality of coils that are arranged in parallel along a crosswise direction of the table, and

the control unit moves the table along the crosswise direction.

18. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

the receiving coil includes the plurality of coils that are arranged in parallel along a crosswise direction of the table, and

the control unit moves the table along the crosswise direction.

19. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein

the receiving coil includes the plurality of coils that are arranged in parallel along a crosswise direction of the table, and

the control unit moves the table along the crosswise direction.

20. A method of controlling a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, the method comprising:

receiving from an operator a selecting operation of selecting at least one coil from among a plurality of coils included in a receiving coil that receives a magnetic resonance signal irradiated from a subject, and

moving a table on which the subject is placed such that the coil selected by receiving the selecting operation is positioned at a center of a magnetic field.