Method for determining the condition of an object by magnetic resonance imaging
First Claim
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1. A method for using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate a selected region of interest of an object, the method comprising:
- acquiring at a plurality of successive acquisition times an MRI image of the selected region of interest of a sample object having a known condition;
generating for the sample object a function representing a mean intensity of each of the acquired MRI images for each of the successive acquisition times;
acquiring at a plurality of successive acquisition times an MRI image of the selected region of interest of a test object having an unknown condition, the test object being different from the sample object;
generating for the test object a function representing a mean intensity of each of the acquired MRI images for each of the successive acquisition times;
evaluating the unknown condition of the test object by comparing the generated function for the test object to the generated function for the sample object; and
constructing a development time table of conditions of the test object so as to monitor the development of a disease.
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Abstract
A method for determining the condition of an animate or inanimate object by magnetic resonance imaging, MRI, particularly for determining the pathologic condition of rheumatoid arthritis (“arthritis rheumatoides”) and carrying out a patient follow-up.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate a selected region of interest of an object, the method comprising:
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acquiring at a plurality of successive acquisition times an MRI image of the selected region of interest of a sample object having a known condition; generating for the sample object a function representing a mean intensity of each of the acquired MRI images for each of the successive acquisition times; acquiring at a plurality of successive acquisition times an MRI image of the selected region of interest of a test object having an unknown condition, the test object being different from the sample object; generating for the test object a function representing a mean intensity of each of the acquired MRI images for each of the successive acquisition times; evaluating the unknown condition of the test object by comparing the generated function for the test object to the generated function for the sample object; and constructing a development time table of conditions of the test object so as to monitor the development of a disease. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate a selected region of interest of an object, the method comprising:
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acquiring for each of a plurality of sample objects an MRI image of the selected region of interest at a plurality of successive acquisition times, wherein each of the sample objects has an associated known condition; generating for each of the sample objects a function representing a mean intensity of each of the acquired MRI images for each of the successive acquisition times; approximating a parameter for each of the generated sample object functions, wherein each of the approximated parameters is indicative of a known condition of an associated one of the sample objects; acquiring for a test object having an unknown condition an MRI image of the selected region of interest at a plurality of successive acquisition times, the test object being different from the plurality of sample objects; generating for the test object a function representing a mean intensity of each of the acquired MRI images for each of the successive acquisition times; approximating a parameter for the generated test object function, wherein the approximated parameter is indicative of the unknown condition; and comparing the approximated parameter indicative of the unknown condition to the approximated parameters indicative of the known conditions to identify the unknown condition. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate a selected region of interest of an object, the method comprising:
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a) acquiring at least one image by MRI along at least one slice or along one section plane or a volume of a selected three-dimensional region within the volume of the biological tissue(s) having a known condition at different successive times within a predetermined time period; b) determining the mean intensity of the MRI signal for each image or for a selected region of each image, which selected region is identical for each image or refers to an identical part of the imaged sample biological tissue(s) under examination; c) constructing an empirical time dependency function of the mean intensity by using the data pairs consisting of the mean intensity of each image or of the part of each image and the corresponding time of acquisition; d) analytically determining a parameter of a function approximating the empirical time dependency function; e) providing at least a second biological tissue to be examined having an unknown condition and carrying out the steps a) to d) using the said second biological tissue; f) comparing the parameters of the functions approximating the empirical time dependency function relating to the sample biological tissue(s) and to the second biological tissue(s) having an unknown condition in order to detect differences of the condition of the second object from the known conditions of the sample object. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A method for using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate a selected region of interest of an object, the method comprising:
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a) generating a database of contrast media perfusion curves each one uniquely associated to a well-defined degree of disease activity; b) the database being generated by acquiring at least one image of an identical region of interest of the same anatomical region by MRI along at least one slice or one section plane of the anatomical region in patients or a three-dimensional MRI image of the anatomical region in more than one patient, each patient having a known degree of disease activity; c) for each patient having a well-defined degree of disease activity, acquiring a sequence of MRI images which sequence comprises a certain number of MRI images taken at different times, one from the other, within a certain period of time; d) the period of time starting immediately after or at the injection of a contrast medium in the anatomical region and terminating after a certain time which is determined as a typical duration of contrast media perfusion in the anatomical region; e) determining for each image or for a selected region of each image, which selected region is identical for each image or refers to an identical part of the imaged anatomical region under examination, the mean intensity of the acquired image data; f) constructing an empirical time dependency function of the mean intensity by using the data pairs consisting of the mean intensity of each image or of the part of each image and the corresponding time of acquisition; g) analytically determining a parameter of a function approximating the empirical time dependency function; h) determining the disease activity in the same region of interest of the same anatomical region of a patient having an unknown level of disease activity by carrying out the steps of injecting the contrast media in the anatomical region of the patient and by acquiring the sequence of MRI images of the anatomical region for the predetermined period of time and finally constructing the empirical time dependency function of the mean intensity by using the data pairs consisting of the mean intensity of each image or of the part of each image and the corresponding time of acquisition and analytically determining the parameter of a function approximating the empirical time dependency function; i) comparing the parameters of the function approximating the empirical time dependency function relating to the database in order to detect the disease activity level; and
,j) repeating at several different times the steps h) and i) for determining changes in the degree of disease activity over time and/or during a therapeutic treatment.
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Specification