MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING APPARATUS AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING METHOD

• US 20100198053A1
• Filed: 01/27/2010
• Published: 08/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2009
• 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, MIYAZAKI, Mitsue
• Granted Patent: US 8,515,526 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/419
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/055 involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/5602 by filtering or weighting based on different relaxation times within the sample, e.g. T1 weighting using an inversion pulse
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/5614 using a fully balanced steady-state free precession [bSSFP] pulse sequence, e.g. trueFISP
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/56333 Involving spatial modulation of the magnetization within an imaged region, e.g. spatial modulation of magnetization [SPAMM] tagging perfusion imaging based on arterial spin tagging G01R33/56366
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/5635 Angiography, e.g. contrast-enhanced angiography [CE-MRA] or time-of-flight angiography [TOF-MRA]
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/56366 Perfusion imaging

Abstract

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus includes a first blood flow image acquisition unit and a second blood flow image acquisition unit. The first blood flow image acquisition unit acquires a first blood flow image of a breast of an object without contrast medium. The second blood flow image acquisition unit acquires a second blood flow image without contrast medium with applying a spin labeling pulse by which a region to be tagged is set based on the first blood flow image as a reference image so as to distinguish blood flowing into a desired region.

Claims

1. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising:

a first blood flow image acquisition unit configured to acquire a first blood flow image of a breast of an object without contrast medium; and

a second blood flow image acquisition unit configured to acquire a second blood flow image without contrast medium with applying a spin labeling pulse by which a region to be tagged is set based on the first blood flow image as a reference image so as to distinguish blood flowing into a desired region.

2. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising:

a first blood flow image acquisition unit configured to acquire a first blood flow image of an object without contrast medium; and

a second blood flow image acquisition unit configured to acquire plural second blood flow images without contrast medium with applying spin labeling pulses by which a region to be tagged is set based on the first blood flow image as a reference image so as to distinguish blood flowing into a desired region, the spin labeling pulses having mutually different inversion times.

4. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus of claim 2,

wherein said first and second blood flow image acquisition units are configured to acquire the first blood flow image and the second blood flow images by a three dimensional scan for acquiring echo data corresponding to a predetermined slice encode amount every plural beats in synchronization with heart beat information or pulse wave information of the object.

5. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus of claim 2,

wherein said first and second blood flow image acquisition units are configured to acquire the first blood flow image and the second blood flow images using a steady state free precession of nuclear magnetic spins.

6. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus of claim 2, further comprising:

a blood flow information generating unit configured to generate signal variation information representing a variation in intensity of a signal from blood versus a variation in inversion time based on the second blood flow images.

7. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus of claim 6,

wherein said blood flow information generating unit is configured to perform normalization of the second blood flow images using the first blood flow image and generate the signal variation information based on the second blood flow images after the normalization.

8. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus of claim 6,

wherein said blood flow information generating unit is configured to generate the signal variation information as a curve representing a variation in signal intensity at a desired position between the second blood flow images corresponding to the mutually different inversion times.

9. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus of claim 6,

wherein said blood flow information generating unit is configured to generate the signal variation information as an index of two dimensional data representing a characteristic of a variation in signal intensities at plural positions between the second blood flow images corresponding to the mutually different inversion times.

10. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus of claim 2, further comprising:

a tumor differentiation unit configured to differentiate whether a tumor depicted on the first blood flow image is malignant or benign, based on signal intensities of the second blood flow images.

11. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus of claim 2,

wherein said second blood flow image acquisition unit includes a setting unit configured to set the region to be tagged so as to make it possible to specify a blood vessel sustaining a tumor depicted on the first blood flow image.

12. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus of claim 2,

wherein said second blood flow image acquisition unit includes a setting unit configured to set the region to be tagged so as to include no main blood vessels depicted on the first blood flow image.

13. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus of claim 2,

wherein said second blood flow image acquisition unit includes a setting unit configured to set the region to be tagged so as not to include only a specific main blood vessel depicted on the first blood flow image.

14. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus of claim 2,

wherein said second blood flow image acquisition unit includes a setting unit configured to set the desired region as the region to be tagged.

15. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus of claim 2,

wherein said second blood flow image acquisition unit includes a setting unit configured to set a region involving a main blood vessel as the region to be tagged, the region involving the main blood vessel being outside the desired region.

3. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising:

a blood flow image acquisition unit configured to acquire plural blood flow images without contrast medium with applying spin labeling pulses for tagging blood flowing into a desired region of an object so as to be distinguished, a marker including a matter generating a magnetic resonance signal being arranged in the object, the spin labeling pulses having mutually different inversion times; and

a normalization unit configured to normalize the blood flow images using a signal value of a magnetic resonance signal from the marker.

16. A magnetic resonance imaging method comprising:

acquiring a first blood flow image of a breast of an object without contrast medium; and

acquiring a second blood flow image without contrast medium with applying a spin labeling pulse by which a region to be tagged is set based on the first blood flow image as a reference image so as to distinguish blood flowing into a desired region.

17. A magnetic resonance imaging method comprising:

acquiring a first blood flow image of an object without contrast medium; and

acquiring plural second blood flow images without contrast medium with applying spin labeling pulses by which a region to be tagged is set based on the first blood flow image as a reference image so as to distinguish blood flowing into a desired region, the spin labeling pulses having mutually different inversion times.

18. A magnetic resonance imaging method comprising:

acquiring plural blood flow images without contrast medium with applying spin labeling pulses for tagging blood flowing into a desired region of an object so as to be distinguished, a marker including a matter generating a magnetic resonance signal being arranged in the object, the spin labeling pulses having mutually different inversion times; and

normalizing the blood flow images using a signal value of a magnetic resonance signal from the marker.