US 12,336,802 B2
Method and system for simultaneous mapping of quantitative MRI parameters using a T2 prepared inversion
Gabriele Bonanno, Bern (CH); Jose Pedro Marques, Nijmegen (NL); Tobias Kober, Lausanne (CH); and Tom Hilbert, Lausanne (CH)
Assigned to Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Erlangen (DE); and Stichting Radboud Universiteit, Nijmegen (NL)
Filed by Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Erlangen (DE); and STICHTING RADBOUD UNIVERSITEIT, Nijmegen (NL)
Filed on Apr. 14, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/300,604.
Claims priority of application No. 22168303 (EP), filed on Apr. 14, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2023/0329576 A1, Oct. 19, 2023
Int. Cl. A61B 5/055 (2006.01); A61B 5/00 (2006.01); G01R 33/24 (2006.01); G01R 33/50 (2006.01); G01R 33/56 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 5/055 (2013.01) [A61B 5/0042 (2013.01); G01R 33/50 (2013.01); G01R 33/5602 (2013.01); G01R 33/243 (2013.01); G01R 33/246 (2013.01)] 13 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI) method for mapping at least one qMRI parameter of a biological object with an MRI system, the method comprises the following steps of:
performing, by the MRI system, N scans C_1, . . . , C_N, wherein each scan C_j, with j=1, . . . , N, includes:
performing at least one magnetization preparation radio frequency (RF) pulse series, each followed by M_j readout blocks, wherein two successive said magnetization preparation RF pulse series are separated by a repetition time interval TR_j, wherein each said magnetization preparation RF pulse series is a T2-prepared inversion pulse series containing multiple pulses and characterized by an echo time, being an inter-pulse duration, TEp_j, wherein the inter-pulse duration is a time between first and last pulses, and is varied by the MRI system in order to obtain different T2 weightings, the at least one magnetization preparation RF pulse series being configured for inverting a longitudinal magnetization while encoding T2 contrast in a subsequent T1 recover;
acquiring, by the MRI system and during each readout block, an MRI recovery signal generated by at least a part of the biological object, wherein for each said readout block R_i,j, an MRI signal S_i,j is acquired by the MRI system at a different inversion time TI_i,j, with i=1, . . . , M_j, and M_j≥2;
reconstructing, for and from each said MRI signal S_i,j, an image I_i,j of the part;
creating a voxel-wise signal by concatenating intensity values obtained for a same voxel for reconstructed images; and
fitting a physical model to concatenated intensity values to obtain at least one qMRI map of the at least one qMRI parameter.