Method and apparatus for nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of physiological function information
First Claim
1. A method for nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, comprising the steps of:
- imaging a body to be examined placed in a homogeneous static magnetic field by applying radio frequency magnetic field and gradient fields having a slicing gradient field, a reading gradient field and a phase encoding gradient field, according to a pulse sequence in which a pulse of said radio frequency magnetic field and a pulse of said slicing gradient field are applied for selectively exciting the body to be examined in one slicing direction, a pulse of said reading gradient field for suppressing a motion artifact is applied during an application of a pulse of said phase encoding gradient field, and field echoes are sequentially generated by sequentially switching said reading gradient field, detecting nuclear magnetic resonance signals emitted from the body to be examined in response to the radio frequency magnetic field and the gradient magnetic fields, and processing the nuclear magnetic resonance signals to construct nuclear magnetic resonance images; and
controlling the pulse sequence by varying periods for switching said reading gradient field so as to realize a first imaging scheme for acquiring first image date emphasizing the nuclear magnetic resonance signals from blood flow portions in a desired region of the body to be examined, and a second imaging scheme for acquiring second image data emphasizing a change of a magnetic field inhomogeneity due to a change of an amount of blood flow in the desired region of the body to be examined, by a single execution of the pulse sequence at the imaging step.
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Abstract
A nuclear magnetic resonance imaging scheme suitable for an imaging of a physiological function information on a living body. The scheme uses a pulse sequence for realizing a first imaging scheme for obtaining the blood vessel image and a second imaging scheme for obtaining the physiological function image such as a brain function image by a single execution of the pulse sequence, where the first imaging scheme is executed before the second imaging scheme by controlling resolutions and imaging regions for the respective imaging schemes appropriately. The pulse sequence can also realize a third imaging scheme for obtaining the physical shape image, which is to be executed between the first imaging scheme and the second imaging scheme. The physiological function image can be obtained by selecting valid data from the image data acquired with/without stimulation or load by using the t-test, and determining active portions from the selected valid data by using the paired t-test. The physiological function image can then be displayed in superposition with the blood vessel image and/or the physical shape image.
39 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, comprising the steps of:
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imaging a body to be examined placed in a homogeneous static magnetic field by applying radio frequency magnetic field and gradient fields having a slicing gradient field, a reading gradient field and a phase encoding gradient field, according to a pulse sequence in which a pulse of said radio frequency magnetic field and a pulse of said slicing gradient field are applied for selectively exciting the body to be examined in one slicing direction, a pulse of said reading gradient field for suppressing a motion artifact is applied during an application of a pulse of said phase encoding gradient field, and field echoes are sequentially generated by sequentially switching said reading gradient field, detecting nuclear magnetic resonance signals emitted from the body to be examined in response to the radio frequency magnetic field and the gradient magnetic fields, and processing the nuclear magnetic resonance signals to construct nuclear magnetic resonance images; and controlling the pulse sequence by varying periods for switching said reading gradient field so as to realize a first imaging scheme for acquiring first image date emphasizing the nuclear magnetic resonance signals from blood flow portions in a desired region of the body to be examined, and a second imaging scheme for acquiring second image data emphasizing a change of a magnetic field inhomogeneity due to a change of an amount of blood flow in the desired region of the body to be examined, by a single execution of the pulse sequence at the imaging step. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus for nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, comprising:
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imaging means for imaging a body to be examined placed in a homogeneous static magnetic field by applying radio frequency magnetic field and gradient magnetic fields having a slicing gradient field, a reading gradient field and a phase encoding gradient field, according to a pulse sequence in which a pulse of said radio frequency magnetic field and a pulse of said slicing gradient field are applied for selectively exciting the body to be examined in one slicing direction, a pulse of said reading gradient field for suppressing a motion artifact is applied during an application of a pulse of said phase encoding gradient field, and field echoes are sequentially generated by sequentially switching said reading gradient field, detecting nuclear magnetic resonance signals emitted from the body to be examined in response to the radio frequency magnetic field and the gradient magnetic fields, and processing the nuclear magnetic resonance signals to construct nuclear magnetic resonance images; and control means for controlling the pulse sequence by varying periods for switching said reading gradient field so as to realize a first imaging scheme for acquiring first image data emphasizing the nuclear magnetic resonance signals from blood flow portions in a desired region of the body to be examined, and a second imaging scheme for acquiring second image data emphasizing a change of a magnetic field inhomogeneity due to a change of an amount of blood flow in the desired region of the body to be examined, by a single execution of the pulse sequence at the imaging means. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification