Systems and methods for estimating magnetic susceptibility through continuous motion in an MRI scanner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12007459-B2
Application number	US-202318120794-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 13, 2023
Priority date	Oct 29, 2020
Publication date	Jun 11, 2024
Grant date	Jun 11, 2024

Abstract

Systems and methods for estimating magnetic susceptibility of a patient through continuous motion in an MRI scanner are provided herein. In one or more examples, during the collection of data, the patient can be instructed to move their head or other part of the body in a continuous manner and for a fixed duration of time. During the fixed duration of time, magnitude a data from the RF signal can be received by one or more RF coils can be collected. The received and undersampled magnitude data can be converted to phase data which can then be converted to magnetic susceptibility. Thus magnetic susceptibility can be determined while allowing for continuous motion during the MRI scan, which can be more comfortable and feasible for the patient in contrast to techniques that require the patient to hold their body at a particular orientation in the scanner for a fixed duration of time.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for generating a phase image from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of a portion of a patient's body undergoing an MRI scan, the system comprising:
a memory; and
one or more processors;
wherein the memory stores one or more programs that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
receive a plurality of MM measurements, wherein the plurality of MRI measurements are obtained while the patient is continuously moving;
receive data corresponding to a plurality of user positions, wherein the data is obtained while the patient is continuously moving;

associate each of the MRI measurements of the received plurality of MRI measurements with a user position of the received data corresponding to the plurality of user positions;
categorize each associated MRI measurement and user position into a bin of a plurality of bins, wherein each bin of the plurality of bins is defined by a range of values corresponding to a position of the patient; and
generate a phase image using one or more associated MRI measurements and user positions categorized in a first bin and one or more associated MRI measurements and user positions categorized in one or more bins adjacent to the first bin.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of MRI measurements obtained while the patient is continuously moving is received from one or more radio frequency (RF) coils.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the data corresponding to a plurality of user positions obtained while the patient is continuously moving is received from a motion tracker.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the motion tracker includes a camera configured to capture the plurality of user positions that corresponds to the portion of the patient's body.

5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the motion tracker determines the plurality of user positions in two or more spatial dimensions.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein a total range of motion of the patient is obtained while the patient is continuously moving and wherein the total range of motion is divided into a pre-determined number of ranges of values to form the plurality of bins.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein each bin of the plurality of bins represents a range of values corresponding to the position of the patient's body in two or more spatial dimensions.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the range of values corresponding to the one or more bins adjacent to the first bin is proximal to the range of values corresponding to the first bin.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein, when executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs are configured to cause the one or more processors to determine magnetic susceptibility of the portion of the patient's body using the generated phase image.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein determining the magnetic susceptibility of the portion of the patient's body comprises: calculating a magnetic field of each bin of the plurality of bins; and calculating the magnetic susceptibility of the portion of the patient's body undergoing the MRI scan.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein, when executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs are configured to cause the one or more processors to generate an image of the portion of the patient's body based on the determined magnetic susceptibility of the portion of the patient's body.

12. A method for generating a phase image from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of a portion of a patient's body undergoing an MRI scan, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of MRI measurements, wherein the plurality of MRI measurements are obtained while the patient is continuously moving;
receiving data corresponding to a plurality of user positions, wherein the data is obtained while the patient is continuously moving;
associating each of the MRI measurements of the received plurality of MRI measurements with a user position of the received data corresponding to the plurality of user positions;
categorizing each associated MRI measurement and user position into a bin of a plurality of bins, wherein each bin of the plurality of bins is defined by a range of values corresponding to a position of the patient; and
generating a phase image using one or more associated MRI measurements and user positions categorized in a first bin and one or more associated MRI measurements and user positions categorized in one or more bins adjacent to the first bin.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of MRI measurements obtained while the patient is continuously moving is received from one or more radio frequency (RF) coils.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the data corresponding to a plurality of user positions obtained while the patient is continuously moving is received from a motion tracker.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the motion tracker includes a camera configured to capture the plurality of user positions that corresponds to the portion of the patient's body.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the motion tracker determines the plurality of user positions in two or more spatial dimensions.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein a total range of motion of the patient is obtained while the patient is continuously moving and wherein the total range of motion is divided into a pre-determined number of ranges of values to form the plurality of bins.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein each bin of the plurality of bins represents a range of values corresponding to the position of the patient's body in two or more spatial dimensions.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein the range of values corresponding to the one or more bins adjacent to the first bin is proximal to the range of values corresponding to the first bin.

20. The method of claim 12 comprising determining magnetic susceptibility of the portion of the patient's body using the generated phase image.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein determining the magnetic susceptibility of the portion of the patient's body comprises: calculating a magnetic field of each bin of the plurality of bins; and calculating the magnetic susceptibility of the portion of the patient's body undergoing the MRI scan.

22. The method of claim 20 , comprising generating an image of the portion of the patient's body based on the determined magnetic susceptibility of the portion of the patient's body.

23. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for generating a phase image from magnetic resonance imaging (MM) data of a portion of a patient's body undergoing an MRI scan that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the device to:
receive a plurality of MRI measurements, wherein the plurality of MRI measurements are obtained while the patient is continuously moving;
receive data corresponding to a plurality of user positions, wherein the data is obtained while the patient is continuously moving;
associate each of the MRI measurements of the received plurality of MRI measurements with a user position of the received data corresponding to the plurality of user positions;
categorize each associated MRI measurement and user position into a bin of a plurality of bins, wherein each bin of the plurality of bins is defined by a range of values corresponding to a position of the patient; and
generate a phase image using one or more associated MRI measurements and user positions categorized in a f

Assignees

• Mitre Corp

Inventors

• Dagher Joseph
• Berman Ben

Classifications

• G01R33/34092

  RF coils specially adapted for NMR spectrometers · 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

• G01R33/561

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

• G01R33/56

  Image enhancement or correction, e.g. subtraction or averaging techniques {, e.g. improvement of signal-to-noise ratio and resolution} · CPC title

• A61B5/055

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