Blood signal suppressed contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging
First Claim
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1. A method of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with blood signal suppression that is independent of blood flow velocity and blood exchange, the method comprising:
- a. administering an MRI contrast agent;
b. waiting for the MRI contrast agent to arrive at the organ tissue of interest;
thenc. using an RF transmitter, applying an RF pulse sequence having (i) a preparatory section that reduces the MRI magnetization of the organ tissue more than the MRI magnetization of blood pool, and (ii) following the preparatory section with an inversion RF pulse;
d. after applying the RF pulse sequence, waiting for a wait time period which is independent of blood flow, the wait time period selected so that (i) the MRI magnetization of healthy organ tissue will be different than the MRI magnetization of diseased organ tissue due to differences in organ tissue accumulation of the MRI contrast agent, and (ii) the MRI magnetization of blood pool will have a more negative signal vector than the magnetization of healthy organ tissue;
e. acquiring magnetic resonance data from the organ tissue of interest; and
f. generating an image with a phase sensitive reconstruction based on said acquired magnetic resonance data.
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Abstract
Methods for achieving suppression of blood pool signal to image contrast-enhanced organs and vascular walls using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging technology. MRI data is then acquired with phase sensitive reconstruction so that blood pool signal is suppressed compared with the tissues of interest.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with blood signal suppression that is independent of blood flow velocity and blood exchange, the method comprising:
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a. administering an MRI contrast agent; b. waiting for the MRI contrast agent to arrive at the organ tissue of interest;
thenc. using an RF transmitter, applying an RF pulse sequence having (i) a preparatory section that reduces the MRI magnetization of the organ tissue more than the MRI magnetization of blood pool, and (ii) following the preparatory section with an inversion RF pulse; d. after applying the RF pulse sequence, waiting for a wait time period which is independent of blood flow, the wait time period selected so that (i) the MRI magnetization of healthy organ tissue will be different than the MRI magnetization of diseased organ tissue due to differences in organ tissue accumulation of the MRI contrast agent, and (ii) the MRI magnetization of blood pool will have a more negative signal vector than the magnetization of healthy organ tissue; e. acquiring magnetic resonance data from the organ tissue of interest; and f. generating an image with a phase sensitive reconstruction based on said acquired magnetic resonance data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with blood signal suppression that is independent of blood flow velocity and blood exchange, based on administration of an MRI contrast agent and waiting for the MRI contrast agent to arrive at the organ tissue of interest, the system comprising:
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an RF transmitter configured to apply an RF pulse sequence having (i) a preparatory section that reduces magnetization of organ tissue more than the MRI magnetization of blood pool, and (ii) an inversion RF pulse following the preparatory section; a sequencer coupled to the RF transmitter that, after controlling the RF transmitter to apply the RF pulse sequence, is configured to wait a wait time period which is independent of blood flow, the wait time period selected so that (i) the MRI magnetization of healthy organ tissue will be different from the MRI magnetization of diseased organ tissue due to differences in organ tissue accumulation of the MRI contrast agent, and (ii) the MRI magnetization of blood pool will have a more negative signal vector than the MRI magnetization of healthy organ tissue; an RF receiver coupled to the sequencer, the receiver acquiring magnetic resonance data from the organ tissue of interest; and at least one computer operatively coupled to the RF receiver, the computer using a phase sensitive reconstruction to generate an image based on said acquired magnetic resonance data. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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Specification