Multiple-echo NMR angiography for enhancement of signal-to noise ratio

• US 5,022,398 A
• Filed: 03/22/1990
• Issued: 06/11/1991
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/1987
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Dumoulin, Charles L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Ruth S.
• Application Number:
  US07/497,288
• Time in Patent Office: 446 Days
• Field of Search: 128/653 AF, 324/306, 324/309
• US Class Current: 600/413
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/563 of moving material, e.g. flow contrast angiography

Abstract

Several sequences of radio-frequency and magnetic field gradients are presented for obtaining from a sample multiple response echo signals from which to obtain a plurality of independent angiograms, which can be combined or separately analyzed to provide more information than an individual angiogram, but in substantially the same amount of time as a single angiogram. For example, a series of angiograms, each with a different projection axis, can be obtained in the time required to obtain a single angiogram using a single echo method. If the view angle of each echo is the same, then the acquired angiograms can be added to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio. Another pulse sequence simultaneously obtains two or more angiograms, each sensitive to one of two orthogonal flow components of the overall blood flow; the angiograms are then added to give an angiogram which is sensitive to total flow in all directions. Multiple velocity ranges are accommodated in a fourth sequence form.

Claims

1. A method for acquiring at least one nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) angiographic image of flowing material in at least a selected portion of a sample comprising the steps of:

(a) immersing the sample in a main static magnetic field;

(b) nutating, in the initial part of each of a first sequence and a second of a sequential pair of imaging sequences for each of a multiplicity S of regions of said selected sample portion, the spins of all nuclei of a selected species;

(c) applying a pair of alternating-polarity flow-encoding signal pulses in a first magnetic field gradient impressed upon the sample, in a first direction selected to establish one axis of the NMR angiographic projection image, to cause a resulting NMR response echo signal from the spin of a moving nucleus to differ from the NMR response echo signal resulting from the spin of a substantially stationary nucleus;

each of the flow-encoding pulses in the first sequence of each pair having a polarity opposite to the polarity of the like-positioned flow-encoding pulse in the second sequence of each pair;

(d) acquiring, responsive to a readout magnetic field gradient impressed upon the sample in a second direction, substantially orthogonal to the first direction, a set of data from the NMR response echo signal evoked, from at least the sample portion, in each different one of a plurality M of response data acquisition time intervals of each of the first and second sequences, and including the substeps of;

obtaining all M of the response data sets in each sequence for a single common readout second direction; and

summing the data values for all M response data sets in each sequence to obtain a single summed data set for that common second direction and that sequence;

(e) subtracting the summed data set from one of the first and second sequences from the summed data set from the other sequence of the sequence pair, to generate the difference data set for that pair; and

(f) generating, responsive to all difference data sets, each of at least one angiographic projection image, each lying in a plane having a preselected relationship with respect to the first and second directions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) includes the step of limiting the nutating action to a predetermined volume of the sample portion.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the sample is a portion of a living entity having a cardiac cycle, and further including the step of gating the commencement of each sequence with respect to a designated point in the cardiac cycle of the entity.