Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for performing diagnostic examinations using MRI

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10732244-B2
Application number	US-201213429928-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 26, 2012
Priority date	Mar 26, 2012
Publication date	Aug 4, 2020
Grant date	Aug 4, 2020

Abstract

A method for operating an imaging system, and a system, apparatus, and computer-readable medium, that operate in accordance with the method. The method includes providing field-of-view (FoV) information, and automatically selecting at least one recording sequence based on at least one of a particular diagnostic application of interest and the FoV information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for operating a dental magnetic resonance imaging system that includes an imaging coil attached to a coil arm, the method comprising:
positioning the imaging coil near an object to be imaged;
receiving a selection of a dento-maxillofacial application from a plurality of dento-maxillofacial applications, the selected dento-maxillofacial application corresponding to a diagnostic inquiry;
causing a display device to display, in response to the selection of the dento-maxillofacial application, a graphical indicator of an anatomical region corresponding to the selected dento-maxillofacial application, wherein the graphical indicator of the anatomical region comprises one or more regions;
receiving a selection of a region of the one or more regions of the graphical indicator displayed on the display device;
selecting a magnetic resonance imaging recording sequence, from a plurality of magnetic resonance imaging recording sequences, based on: the selected dento-maxillofacial application, the selected region of the one or more regions of the graphical indicator, and a position of the imaging coil within the dental magnetic resonance imaging system, wherein the selected magnetic resonance imaging recording sequence includes one or more values that configure the dental magnetic resonance imaging system to perform a scan of the object to be imaged that corresponds to the diagnostic inquiry; and
scanning the object to be imaged using the dental magnetic resonance imaging system configured in accordance with the magnetic resonance recording sequence.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selecting of the magnetic resonance imaging recording sequence, from the plurality of recording sequences, is further based on field-of-view information.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the field-of-view information is generated based on a position of a region of interest with respect to the object to be imaged and an expected size of the region of interest, and
wherein the object to be imaged is at least partially within the region of interest.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
receiving a measured size of a part of a patient,
wherein the expected size of the region of interest is determined by scaling a predetermined size of the region of interest for the selected dento-maxillofacial application based on the measured size of the part of the patient.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the position of the region of interest is determined by adjusting an initial position of the region of interest for the selected dento-maxillofacial application based on a measured size of a part of the patient.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the position of the region of interest is determined by adding a predetermined three-dimensional offset to the position of the imaging coil.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
causing a display device to display the plurality of dento-maxillofacial applications.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more values in the magnetic resonance imaging recording sequence include one or more of: a high frequency pulse value, a gradient pulse value, a time interval between pulses, a waveform amplitude, a waveform shape, a waveform length, and a timing value for measuring and/or reading out high frequency signals.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of magnetic resonance imaging recording sequences are received from a non-transitory memory, and
wherein the plurality of magnetic resonance imaging recording sequences correspond to respective combinations of the plurality of dento-maxillofacial applications and regions of a patient's body.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating a diagnostic image based on scan data from the scanning of the object to be imaged.

11. The imaging method of claim 1 , wherein the selected dento-maxillofacial application is one of a caries application, a periodontal application, a head application, or a condyle application.

12. A dental magnetic resonance imaging system, the system comprising:
a magnetic resonance scanner constructed to perform a scan of an object, the magnetic resonance scanner including an imaging coil attached to a coil arm;
a display device; and
a processor connected to the magnetic resonance scanner and configured to:
receive a selection of a dento-maxillofacial application from a plurality of dento-maxillofacial applications, the selected dento-maxillofacial application corresponding to a diagnostic inquiry,
cause the display device to display, in response to the selection of the dento-maxillofacial application, a graphical indicator of an anatomical region corresponding to the selected dento-maxillofacial application, wherein the graphical indicator of the anatomical region comprises one or more regions,
receiving a selection of a region of the one or more regions of the graphical indicator displayed on the display device,
select a magnetic resonance imaging recording sequence, from a plurality of magnetic resonance imaging recording sequences, based on: the selected dento-maxillofacial application, the selected region of the one or more regions of the graphical indicator, and a position of the imaging coil within the dental magnetic resonance imaging system, wherein the selected magnetic resonance imaging recording sequence includes one or more values that configure the magnetic resonance scanner to perform scan of the object that corresponds to the diagnostic inquiry, and
generate a diagnostic image based on scan data produced during the scan of the object by the magnetic resonance scanner configured in accordance with the recording sequence.

13. The imaging system of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to select the magnetic resonance imaging recording sequence from the plurality of magnetic resonance imaging recording sequences based on field-of-view information.

14. The imaging system of claim 13 , wherein the field-of-view information is generated based on a position of a region of interest with respect to the object and an expected size of the region of interest, and
wherein the object is at least partially within the region of interest.

15. The imaging system of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive a measured size of a part of a patient,
wherein the expected size of the region of interest is determined by scaling a predetermined size of the region of interest for the selected dento-maxillofacial application based on the measured size of the part of the patient.

16. The imaging system of claim 14 , wherein the position of the region of interest is determined by adjusting an initial position of the region of interest for the selected dento-maxillofacial application based on a measured size of a part of the patient.

17. The imaging system of claim 14 , wherein the position of the region of interest is determined by adding a predetermined three-dimensional offset to the position of the imaging coil.

18. The imaging system of claim 12 , further comprising:
a user interface connected to the processor and configured to receive a user input and generate the selection of the dento-maxillofacial application in response to the user input.

19. The imaging system of claim 18 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the display device to display the plurality of dento-maxillofacial applications.

20. The imaging system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more values in the magnetic resonance imaging recordi

Assignees

• Rasche Volker
• Hell Erich
• Ulrici Johannes
• Sirona Dental Systems Gmbh

Inventors

• Rasche Volker
• Hell Erich
• Ulrici Johannes

Classifications

• A61B5/055

  involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging · CPC title

• G01R33/28

  Details of apparatus provided for in groups G01R33/44 - G01R33/64 · CPC title

• A61B5/0033

  Features or image-related aspects of imaging apparatus, e.g. for MRI, optical tomography or impedance tomography apparatus; Arrangements of imaging apparatus in a room · CPC title

• G01R33/546 Primary

  Interface between the MR system and the user, e.g. for controlling the operation of the MR system or for the design of pulse sequences · CPC title

• G01R33/561

  by reduction of the scanning time, i.e. fast acquiring systems, e.g. using echo-planar pulse sequences · CPC title