Phantom for diffusion MRI imaging

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9603546-B2
Application number	US-201013146058-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 26, 2010
Priority date	Jan 26, 2009
Publication date	Mar 28, 2017
Grant date	Mar 28, 2017

Abstract

A phantom calibration body ( 12 ) for calibrating diffusion MRI device ( 16 ) that mimics a material such as a mammalian tissue is disclosed. The phantom calibration body ( 12 ) includes a homogeneous aqueous solution ( 30 ) that contains a mixture of low molecular-weight and high molecular-weight polymers housed in a container ( 14 ) that is placed in the diffusion MRI device ( 16 ) for obtaining one or more diffusion MRI images of the phantom calibration body ( 12 ). A measure of diffusivity is calculated for each of the one or more diffusion MRI images in order to calibrate the diffusion MRI device. Methods of using the phantom calibration body ( 12 ) to calibrate diffusion MRI device ( 16 ) are also disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of calibrating a diffusion MRI device comprising:
providing a phantom calibration body comprising:
a homogenous aqueous solution of polyvinyl pyrrolidone having a distribution of molecular weights with a mean of 5-1000 kiloDaltons (kDa); the homogenous aqueous solution having a diffusivity that is essentially the same as a target mammalian tissue and a viscosity ranging from about 102 centistokes (cSt) to about 106 cSt;

placing the phantom calibration body in a diffusion MRI device;
obtaining diffusion imaging data of the phantom calibration body by scanning the phantom calibration body with the diffusion MRI device, wherein the MRI device comprises one or more processors and wherein the diffusion imaging data are stored on at least one of the one or more processors;
calculating a diffusivity measurement based on the diffusion imaging data that is indicative of water diffusivity of the homogeneous aqueous solution, wherein the diffusivity measurement is calculated by at least one of the one or more processors; and
calibrating the diffusion MRI device based on the calculated diffusivity measurement.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the calibration is performed as part of an activity selected from the group consisting of a routine maintenance of the diffusion MRI device, a troubleshooting and repair process on the diffusion MRI device, a quality assurance/quality control process on the diffusion MRI device, and a performance assessment of a prototype diffusion MRI device in a design process.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the homogeneous aqueous solution comprises at least 0.1% (w/w) polyvinyl pyrrolidone.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the homogeneous aqueous solution comprises 1% to 80% (w/w) polyvinyl pyrrolidone.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the homogeneous aqueous solution comprises 5% to 20% (w/w) polyvinyl pyrrolidone.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the homogeneous aqueous solution comprises 20% to 80% (w/w) polyvinyl pyrrolidone.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the distribution of molecular weights has a mean of 5 to 40 kDa.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the distribution of molecular weights has a mean of 40-1000 kDa.

9. A method of calibrating a resolution performance parameter of a diffusion MRI device comprising:
providing a phantom calibration body comprising one or more known phantom dimensions, and the provided phantom further comprising:
a homogenous aqueous solution of polyvinyl pyrrolidone having a distribution of molecular weights with a mean of 5-1000 kiloDaltons (kDa);
the homogenous aqueous solution having a diffusivity that is essentially the same as a target mammalian tissue; and
the homogenous aqueous solution also having a viscosity ranging from about 10 2 centistokes (cSt) to about 10 6 cSt;

placing the phantom calibration body in a diffusion MRI device;
obtaining one or more diffusion-weighted images of the phantom calibration body by scanning the phantom calibration body with the diffusion MRI device, wherein the MRI device comprises one or more processors and wherein the diffusion-weighted images are stored on at least one of the one or more processors;
obtaining, from the one or more processors, one or more image dimensions from the obtained diffusion-weighted images, wherein the image dimensions correspond to the one or more known phantom dimensions;
comparing, using at least one of the one or more processors, the one or more known phantom dimensions to the one or more image dimensions in order to determine the resolution performance parameter that is being calibrated with the resolution performance parameter being selected from image resolution and image distortion; and
calibrating the resolution performance parameter of the diffusion MRI device based on the comparison.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the homogeneous aqueous solution comprises at least 0.1% (w/w) polyvinyl pyrrolidone.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the homogeneous aqueous solution comprises 1% to 80% (w/w) polyvinyl pyrrolidone.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the homogeneous aqueous solution comprises 5% to 20% (w/w) polyvinyl pyrrolidone.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the homogeneous aqueous solution comprises 20% to 80% (w/w) polyvinyl pyrrolidone.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the distribution of molecular weights has a mean of 5 to 40 kDa.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the distribution of molecular weights has a mean of 40-1000 kDa.

Assignees

• Horkay Ferenc
• Pierpaoli Carlo
• Basser Peter J
• Us Health

Inventors

• Horkay Ferenc
• Pierpaoli Carlo
• Basser Peter J

Classifications

• A61B2560/0228

  using calibration standards · CPC title

• A61B5/418

  lymph vessels, ducts or nodes · CPC title

• G01R33/56341

  Diffusion imaging · CPC title

• A61B5/415 Primary

  the glands, e.g. tonsils, adenoids or thymus · CPC title

• A61B5/055 Primary

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