METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING MEDICAL IMAGE DATA RECORDS

• US 20150342496A1
• Filed: 05/28/2015
• Published: 12/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens Healthineers AG (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Greiser, Andreas, Speier, Peter, Stalder, Aurelien
• Granted Patent: US 10,159,424 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2576/00 Medical imaging apparatus involving image processing or analysis A61B1/00009, A61B6/52 and A61B8/52 take precedence; image processing per se G06T; details of algorithms for analysing medical images G06T7/0012
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/055 involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14546 for measuring analytes not otherwise provided for, e.g. ions, cytochromes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7278 Artificial waveform generation or derivation, e.g. synthesising signals from measured signals A61B5/327 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/742 using visual displays A61B5/339 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/20 involving magnetic resonance medical aspects A61B5/055; magnetic resonance gyrometers G01C19/60
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/54 Signal processing systems, e.g. using pulse sequences ; Generation or control of pulse sequences; Operator console
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/5608 Data processing and visualization specially adapted for MR, e.g. for feature analysis and pattern recognition on the basis of measured MR data, segmentation of measured MR data, edge contour detection on the basis of measured MR data, for enhancing measured MR data in terms of signal-to-noise ratio by means of noise filtering or apodization, for enhancing measured MR data in terms of resolution by means for deblurring, windowing, zero filling, or generation of gray-scaled images, colour-coded images or images displaying vectors instead of pixels image data processing or generation, in general G06T

Abstract

In a method and medical imaging apparatus, for generating medical image data records, raw data of the examination object are acquired by operation of a medical imaging scanner, a reconstruction algorithm issued for reconstructing a medical image data record on the basis of raw data and of a value of a physiological parameter. At least two medical image data records are created by applying the reconstruction algorithm at least twice to the acquired raw data using a different virtual value of the physiological parameter each time. The at least two medical image data records are provided from the reconstruction computer.

Claims

1. A method for generating medical image data records of an examination object, comprising:

operating a magnetic resonance scanner, while an examination object is situated in the magnetic resonance scanner, to acquire raw magnetic resonance data from the examination object;

providing a computer with a reconstruction algorithm that reconstructs a medical image data record from the data and using a value of a physiological parameter;

providing said raw magnetic resonance data acquired from the examination object to said computer and, in said computer, generating at least two medical image data records by applying said reconstruction algorithm at least twice to the raw magnetic resonance data and using a different virtual value of said physiological parameter respectively to generate said at least two medical image data records; and

making said at least two medical image data records available in electronic form at an output of said computer.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising, in said computer, additionally processing said raw magnetic resonance data by applying a computational operation to said raw magnetic resonance data, said computational operation being different from said reconstruction algorithm, and a value of said physiological parameter being used as a variable in said computational operation.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising making said at least two medical image data records available in said electronic form respectively associated with an electronic representation of the respective virtual value of the physiological parameter that was used to generate the respective medical image data record.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising providing said at least two medical image data records in said electronic form as a series of images.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising, after generating said at least two medical image data records, operating said magnetic resonance scanner to acquire further raw magnetic resonance data from the examination object and measuring an actual physiological parameter, corresponding to said physiological parameter, from the examination object contemporaneously with the acquisition of said further raw magnetic resonance data.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising, in said computer, determining an image area within each of said at least two medical image data records and generating a characterization value across each determined image area, said characterization value characterizing an image content of the respective image area, and providing said at least two image data records in said electronic form together with an electronic representation of the respective characterization value of the respective image area in each medical image data record.

7. A method as claimed in claim 6 comprising, in said computer, determining a functional connection between said characterization value and the value of the physiological parameter, and displaying said functional connection as a diagram at a display screen in communication with said computer.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising using a laboratory value of the examination object as said physiological parameter.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8 comprising using a hematocrit value of the examination object as said physiological parameter.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising operating said magnetic resonance scanner to acquire said raw magnetic resonance data as a T1 map of the examination object, and thereafter administering a contrast agent to the examination object, and thereafter operating said magnetic resonance scanner, while the examination object is situated therein, to acquire further raw magnetic resonance data as a further T1 map of the examination object with said contrast medium therein.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising providing said computer with said reconstruction algorithm configured to represent a spatially resolved distribution of an extracellular volume of the examination object.

12. A medical imaging apparatus comprising:

a magnetic resonance scanner;

a control computer configured to operate said magnetic resonance scanner, while an examination object is situated in the magnetic resonance scanner, to acquire raw magnetic resonance data from the examination object;

an image reconstruction computer configured with a reconstruction algorithm to reconstruct a medical image data record from the data and using a value of a physiological parameter;

said image reconstruction computer being provided with said raw magnetic resonance data acquired from the examination object, and said image reconstruction computer being configured to generate at least two medical image data records by applying said reconstruction algorithm at least twice to the raw magnetic resonance data and using a different virtual value of said physiological parameter respectively to generate said at least two medical image data records; and

said image reconstruction computer being configured to make said at least two medical image data records available in electronic form at an output of said image reconstruction computer.