Magnetic resonance tomography system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11340321-B2
Application number	US-202016869844-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 8, 2020
Priority date	May 9, 2019
Publication date	May 24, 2022
Grant date	May 24, 2022

Abstract

A magnetic resonance tomography system can include a basic field magnet arrangement configured to generate a basic magnetic field (B0), and spatially separated measurement stations (M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M6, N5, M6, Mp, Ms). The magnetic resonance tomography system can use the intended basic magnetic field (B0) collectively for the measurement stations.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A magnetic resonance tomography system comprising:
a basic field magnet arrangement configured to generate a basic magnetic field; and
a plurality of spatially separated measurement stations, wherein the magnetic resonance tomography system is configured to use the basic magnetic field collectively for the plurality of spatially separated measurement stations, wherein at least one measurement station of the plurality of spatially separated measurement stations comprises a height adjuster configured to adjust a height of the entire measurement station and/or adjust a height of an examination object.

2. The magnetic resonance tomography system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the magnetic resonance tomography system is configured to perform magnetic resonance tomography scans simultaneously at at least two of the plurality of spatially separated measurement stations in the common basic magnetic field.

3. The magnetic resonance tomography system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one measurement stations is a secondary measurement station of the plurality of spatially separated measurement stations.

4. The magnetic resonance tomography system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising at least two measuring devices, independent of one another, each of the at least two measuring devices being configured to perform a measurement within a scope of a magnetic resonance tomography scan at one of the plurality of spatially separated measurement stations, wherein at least one of the at least two measuring devices is a mobile measuring device.

5. The magnetic resonance tomography system as claimed in claim 4 , wherein a measuring device, of the at least two measuring devices, for a secondary measurement station of the plurality of spatially separated measurement stations comprises at least one radiofrequency (RF) transmitter, at least one RF receiver, and a gradient system and/or a shim coil system.

6. A mobile measuring device configured to perform a measurement in the magnetic resonance tomography system according to claim 1 , wherein the measuring device comprises at least one radiofrequency (RF) transmitter, at least one RF receiver, and a gradient system and/or a shim coil system.

7. A magnetic resonance tomography system comprising:
a basic field magnet arrangement configured to generate a basic magnetic field, the basic field magnet arrangement including a plurality of basic field magnet segments spatially separated from one another, each basic field magnet segment of the plurality of basic field magnet segments are configured to generate an intended magnetic field having a defined segment main field direction, wherein at least two basic field magnet segments of the plurality of basic field magnet segments are arranged relative to one another such that the segment main field directions of their intended magnetic fields extend at a deflection angle to one another such that the intended magnetic fields of the at least two basic field magnet segments result in the intended basic magnetic field, the basic magnetic field having a basic magnet main field direction having an annular profile; and
a plurality of spatially separated measurement stations, wherein the magnetic resonance tomography system is configured to use the basic magnetic field collectively for the plurality of spatially separated measurement stations.

8. A magnetic resonance tomography system comprising:
a basic field magnet arrangement configured to generate a basic magnetic field; and
a plurality of spatially separated measurement stations, wherein the magnetic resonance tomography system is configured to use the basic magnetic field collectively for the plurality of spatially separated measurement stations, wherein:
at least one primary measurement station, of the plurality of spatially separated measurement stations, is within the basic field magnet arrangement; and
at least one secondary measurement station, of the plurality of spatially separated measurement stations, is outside of the basic field magnet arrangement and is located in a stray field area of a stray magnetic field of the basic field magnet arrangement, the least one secondary measurement station being configured to use the stray magnetic field of the basic magnetic field.

9. The magnetic resonance tomography system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the plurality of spatially separated measurement stations comprise at least two secondary measurement stations which are arranged on different sides of the primary measurement station and lie in a common plane with the primary measurement station.

10. The magnetic resonance tomography system as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the at least two secondary measurement stations are arranged in a star shape around the primary measurement station.

11. The magnetic resonance tomography system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the at least one secondary measurement station is arranged in a different room from the at least one primary measurement station.

12. The magnetic resonance tomography system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the at least one secondary measurement station is separated from the at least one primary measurement station by a wall, the wall being paramagnetic, constitutes an acoustic and/or optical separation, and/or forms a Faraday cage around at least one of the plurality of spatially separated measurement stations.

13. The magnetic resonance tomography system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein a basic magnet main field direction of the basic magnetic field is oriented perpendicularly to a floor surface in a region of the at least one primary measurement station.

14. A method for measuring raw data for a magnetic resonance tomography scan, comprising:
positioning at least one examination object in a measurement station of a plurality of spatially separated measurement stations of a magnetic resonance tomography system that further includes a basic field magnet arrangement;
generating a basic magnetic field using the basic field magnet arrangement of the magnetic resonance tomography system, the basic magnetic field being collectively used for the plurality of spatially separated measurement stations, wherein a secondary measurement station of the plurality of spatially separated measurement stations is arranged in a stray field or stray field region of the basic magnetic field to facilitate a raw data measurement at the secondary measurement station using the stray field or stray field region of the basic magnetic field; and
measuring the raw data at at least the measurement station.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein at least one examination object is positioned in the secondary measurement station of the plurality of spatially separated measurement stations and raw data for magnetic resonance tomography scans is measured at said secondary measurement station using a mobile measuring device having at least one radiofrequency (RF) transmitter, at least one RF receiver, and a gradient system and/or a shim coil system, wherein magnetic resonance tomography scans are performed simultaneously at at least two measurement stations of the plurality of spatially separated measurement stations.

16. The method as claimed in claim 14 , further comprising spatially encoding the raw data using an inhomogeneity of the basic magnetic field, wherein the inhomogeneity of the basic magnetic field includes a stray magnetic field at a secondary measurement station plurality of spatially separated measurement stations.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium with an exe

Assignees

• Siemens Healthcare Gmbh

Inventors

• Popescu Stefan

Classifications

• G01R33/42

  Screening · CPC title

• A61B5/055 Primary

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

• G01R33/5608

  Data processing and visualization specially adapted for MR, e.g. for feature analysis and pattern recognition on the basis of measured MR data, segmentation of measured MR data, edge contour detection on the basis of measured MR data, for enhancing measured MR data in terms of signal-to-noise ratio by means of noise filtering or apodization, for enhancing measured MR data in terms of resolution by means for deblurring, windowing, zero filling, or generation of gray-scaled images, colour-coded images or images displaying vectors instead of pixels (image data processing or generation, in general G06T) · CPC title

• G01R33/3806 Primary

  Open magnet assemblies for improved access to the sample, e.g. C-type or U-type magnets · 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