METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACQUIRING IMAGE IN MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING SYSTEM

• US 20140159719A1
• Filed: 04/08/2013
• Published: 06/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: CHON, Hak-soo
• Granted Patent: US 10,359,482 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/309
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/3415 comprising arrays of sub-coils , i.e. phased-array coils with flexible receiver channels
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/3628 Tuning/matching of the transmit/receive coil
• 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

Abstract

A method of acquiring an image in an MRI system includes dividing a scannable region of an object into regions, determining a coil to be used for the divided regions, receiving signals from the determined coil via signal channels connected to the determined coil and grouped by using a switching device, and acquiring the image from the received signals.

Claims

1. A method of acquiring an image in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the method comprising:

dividing a scannable region of an object into regions;

determining a coil to be used for each of the divided regions;

receiving signals from the determined coil via signal channels connected to the determined coil and grouped by using a switching device; and

acquiring the image from the received signals,

wherein the switching device controls an output of the received signals.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the scannable region comprises an area on a table on which the object is to be positioned for imaging, and

the dividing the scannable region comprises dividing the area on the table into the regions.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining the coil comprises:

acquiring information about a connector on the table which is to be connected to the coil;

extracting identification information for identifying the coil from the acquired information; and

identifying the coil based on the identification information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the receiving the signals from the determined coil comprises:

allocating the signal channels to the divided regions;

acquiring allocation information about the signal channels allocated to correspond to the divided regions;

controlling the switching device based on the identification information and the acquired allocation information; and

receiving the signals from the determined coil based on the controlling.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the controlling the switching device comprises enabling a signal channel allocated to a region of interest (ROI) to be scanned which is included into the divided regions in order to acquire an image of the ROI

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the switching device comprises a plurality of input units and a single output unit.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the acquiring the image comprises acquiring the image of the ROI by combining the received signals.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the method of claim 1.

8. An apparatus for acquiring an image in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the apparatus comprising:

a region identifier which divides a scannable region of an object into regions;

a determinator which determines a coil to be used for each of the divided regions;

a receiver which receives signals from the determined coil via signal channels connected to the determined coil and grouped by using a switching device; and

an image processor which acquires the image from the received signals,

wherein the switching device controls an output of the received signals.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the scannable region comprises an area on a table on which the object is to be positioned, and

the region identifier divides the area on the table into the regions, to obtain the divided regions.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the determinator comprises:

an information processor which acquires information about a connector on the table which is to be connected to the coil;

an extractor which extracts identification information for identifying the coil from the acquired information; and

an identifier which identifies the coil based on the identification information.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the receiver comprises:

an allocator which allocates the signal channels to the divided regions;

an information processor which acquires allocation information about the signal channels allocated to correspond to the divided regions; and

a controller which controls the switching device based on the identification information and the acquired allocation information, and

wherein the receiver receives the signals from the determined coil based on a control of the controller.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the controller enables a signal channel allocated to a region of interest (ROI) to be scanned, which is included into the divided regions, in order to acquire an image of the ROI.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the switching device comprises a plurality of input units and a single output unit.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the image processor acquires the image of the ROI by combining the received signals.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the receiver is included in a table on which the object is to be positioned.

17. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method comprising:

dividing a patient support table into regions;

determining coils to be used for imaging the divided regions;

grouping input signal channels associated with the determined coils by using switching devices;

receiving signals from at least one of the determined coils via the input signal channels connected to the at least one coil; and

reconstructing an MR image of a region of interest (ROI), from the received signals.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the patient support table comprises coil connectors and the determining the coils comprises:

identifying the connectors in correspondence to the divided regions; and

identifying respective coils connected to the coil connectors, for the divided regions.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the receiving the signals comprises:

enabling the signal channels associated with the ROI, which is included into the divided regions, via the switching device; and

receiving the signals from the at least one coil identified to be connected to the coil connectors corresponding to the ROI, via the enabled signal channels.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein at least one of the switching devices comprises:

a first number of input units connected to respective input channels; and

a second number of output units connected to respective output channels, the second number being greater than 0 and less than the first number.