KR101852112B1 - Device and method for contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for providing a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes applying a pulse sequence for acquiring a white blood magnetic resonance imaging image and a pulse sequence for acquiring an angiography magnetic resonance imaging And generating the white blood magnetic resonance image and the black blood magnetic resonance image based on the magnetic resonance image data.

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to a contrast enhancing magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and a contrast enhancing magnetic resonance imaging apparatus,

The present invention relates to a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and a method for providing a contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.

Contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been widely applied for the purpose of enhancing the contrast of images by injecting contrast agents and thereby confirming lesions more clearly.

When the results obtained using the conventional enhanced MR imaging method are checked, the intensity of the blood flow signal around the suspected area such as cancer or inflammation is similar to that of the peripheral blood flow, and the enhancement of the contrast enhancement is difficult at the same time. Therefore, there is a high probability that a false-positive error that can be mistaken for a lesion due to enhancement of the blood flow signal is very high.

Among the conventional methods of providing contrast enhanced MR imaging, white blood images have a problem that blood flow and lesions are enhanced at the same time, making accurate diagnosis very difficult. In addition, among the conventional methods of providing contrast enhanced MRI, there is a problem that it is very difficult to distinguish between lesions and blood flow in a region where blood flow velocity is low.

For example, contrast agents are injected to enhance the signal of brain cancer or brain metastases. The contrast agent accelerates T1 recovery and produces strong signals on T1-weighted images, but in normal brain tissue, blood-brain barrier (BBB, Blood-Brain Barrier) can not penetrate into the brain tissue. However, in areas where cancer of the brain or brain is cancerous, the blood-brain barrier may be destroyed and the contrast agent in the blood may penetrate into areas of cancer such as brain cancer or brain cancer. In contrast, when contrast medium is injected to enhance the signal of brain cancer or brain cancer in contrast-enhanced MR imaging, it is difficult to clearly identify the lesion because the signals of blood flow containing contrast agent as well as cancerous brain cancer or brain shadow are also increased do.

To solve this problem, a three-dimensional turbo-spin echo sequence with a variable cantilever including a blood flow suppressing part is used (Korean Patent No. 10-1056451), or a method of selectively obtaining a T1- (US20110092797, MOTION-SENSITIZED DRIVEN EQUILIBRIUM BLOOD-SUPPRESSION SEQUENCE FOR VESSEL WALL IMAGING) by applying a blood flow suppression pulse to selectively remove the signal of blood flow, Can be obtained. Both methods can selectively suppress signals from moving parts or objects using motion-sensitive magnetic resonance imaging techniques. However, contrast-enhanced MR imaging with suppressed blood flow signal suppresses signals based on the motion of blood flow, so that signals of slow-moving blood flow are not sufficiently suppressed and it is difficult to distinguish brain cancer or brain metastasis from cancer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus capable of acquiring a black blood flow image and a white blood flow image together, There is a purpose in providing a method.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image in a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, including: (a) a pulse sequence for acquiring a white blood magnetic resonance image; Acquiring magnetic resonance image data by applying a pulse sequence for acquiring a resonance image; and (b) generating a white blood magnetic resonance image and an autofluorescence magnetic resonance image based on the magnetic resonance image data.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus that provides a contrast enhancement magnetic resonance imaging apparatus including a memory for storing a program for generating a contrast enhancement magnetic resonance image from a magnetic resonance signal received from an MRI scanner, Wherein the processor acquires magnetic resonance image data by applying a pulse sequence for obtaining a white blood magnetic resonance imaging image and a pulse sequence for acquiring an angiography magnetic resonance imaging image, and based on the acquired magnetic resonance imaging data, And generates and outputs a blood flow magnetic resonance image and an angiographic magnetic resonance image.

According to the above-mentioned object of the present invention, when a pulse sequence for acquiring a white blood magnetic resonance imaging image and a pulse sequence for acquiring an angiographic magnetic resonance imaging image are sequentially applied together to acquire respective images by a separate procedure The patient's motion can be suppressed and the effect of contrast agent concentration remaining in the blood vessels and lesions can be minimized. Accordingly, the error can be minimized when the white blood flow magnetic resonance image and the black blood flow magnetic resonance image are compared or fused.

1 is a view showing a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram showing a pulse sequence related to the operation of a conventional magnetic resonance imaging apparatus.
3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of processing a contrast enhanced MRI image according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a pulse sequence according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of specifying a lesion in a contrast enhanced MR imaging method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a procedure of generating a blood vessel road map according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.
7 is a view illustrating a lesion identification process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and similar parts are denoted by like reference characters throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a part is referred to as being "connected" to another part, it includes not only "directly connected" but also "electrically connected" with another part in between . Also, when an element is referred to as "comprising ", it means that it can include other elements as well, without departing from the other elements unless specifically stated otherwise.

In the present specification, "MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)" means an image of a target object obtained using the nuclear magnetic resonance principle.

Further, the term "image" or " image " refers to multi-dimensional data consisting of discrete elements. It means that a plurality of pixels in a two-dimensional image and a plurality of voxels .

Also, the "object" is an object of imaging of a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, and may include a person, an animal, or a part thereof. The subject may also include various organs such as heart, brain or blood vessels or various types of phantoms.

The term "user" may be, but is not limited to, a medical professional such as a doctor, a nurse, a medical imaging specialist, or a device repair technician.

The term "pulse sequence" means a signal repeatedly applied in a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus. The pulse sequence may include a repetition time (TR) or an echo time (Time to Echo, TE) as a time parameter of the RF pulse.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view showing a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus 1 may include an MRI scanner 10, a signal processing unit 20, a monitoring unit 40, a control unit 50, and an interface unit 60.

The MRI scanner 10 forms a magnetic field and generates a resonance phenomenon with respect to an atomic nucleus. A magnetic resonance image is photographed when the object is positioned inside the MRI scanner 10. The MRI scanner 10 includes a main magnet 12, a gradient coil 14, an RF coil 16 and the like, through which a static magnetic field and a gradient magnetic field are formed, and an RF signal is radiated toward a target object.

The main magnet 12, the gradient coil 14 and the RF coil 16 are arranged in the MRI scanner 10 according to a predetermined direction. The object is positioned on a table that can be inserted into the cylinder along the horizontal axis of the cylinder and the object can be positioned inside the bore of the MRI scanner 10 as the table moves.

The main magnet 12 generates a static magnetic field that aligns the direction of the magnetic dipole moment of the nuclei included in the object in a predetermined direction.

The gradient coil 14 includes an X-coil, a Y-coil, and a Z-coil that generate mutually orthogonal X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis gradient magnetic fields. The gradient coil 14 induces different resonance frequencies for the respective parts of the object so that position information of each part of the object can be obtained.

The RF coil 16 can radiate an RF signal to a target object and receive a magnetic resonance image signal emitted from the target object. The RF coil 16 outputs an RF signal having the same frequency as the frequency of the carrot motion toward the nucleus of the car wash motion, and can receive the magnetic resonance image signal emitted from the target body.

For example, the RF coil 16 generates an RF signal having a frequency corresponding to the atomic nucleus, and applies the RF signal to the object, in order to transition the atomic nucleus from a low energy state to a high energy state. Thereafter, when the RF coil 16 stops transmitting the RF signal, the atomic nucleus to which the electromagnetic wave has been applied transits from a high energy state to a low energy state and emits an electromagnetic wave having a Lamor frequency, and the RF coil 16 And receives the corresponding electromagnetic wave signal.

The RF coil 16 includes a transmitting RF coil for transmitting an RF signal having a radio frequency corresponding to the type of the atomic nucleus and a receiving RF coil for receiving electromagnetic waves emitted from the atomic nucleus.

Further, the RF coil 16 may be fixed to the MRI scanner 10, or may be detachable. The removable RF coil 16 may be implemented in the form of a head RF coil, a chest RF coil, a leg RF coil, a neck RF coil, a shoulder RF coil, a wrist RF coil, and an ankle RF coil, which may be coupled to a part of a target object .

The MRI scanner 10 can provide various information to a user or a target through a display, and can include a display 18 disposed on the outside and a display (not shown) disposed on the inside.

The signal processing unit 20 controls a gradient magnetic field formed inside the MRI scanner 10 according to a predetermined MR pulse sequence and can control transmission and reception of an RF signal and a magnetic resonance image signal.

The signal processing section 20 may include a gradient magnetic field amplifier 22, a switching section 24, an RF transmission section 26 and an RF reception section 28.

The gradient magnetic field amplifier 22 drives the gradient coil 14 included in the MRI scanner 10 and outputs a pulse signal for generating a gradient magnetic field under the control of the gradient magnetic field control unit 44 to the gradient coil 14, . By controlling the pulse signals supplied from the oblique magnetic field amplifier 22 to the gradient coil 14, gradient magnetic fields in the X axis, Y axis, and Z axis directions can be synthesized.

The RF transmitting unit 26 supplies RF pulses to the RF coil 16 to drive the RF coil 16. [ The RF receiver 28 receives the MRI image signal transmitted by the RF coil 16 after receiving the RF signal.

The switching unit 24 can adjust the transmission and reception directions of the RF signal and the magnetic resonance image signal. For example, during a transmit operation, an RF signal is applied to an object through an RF coil 16, and during a receive operation, a magnetic resonance image signal from a subject is received via the RF coil 16. [ The switching unit 24 is controlled in switching operation by a control signal from the RF control unit 46. [

The interface unit 30 may instruct the control unit 40 to transmit the pulse sequence information according to an operation of the user and may transmit a command for controlling the operation of the entire MRI system. The interface unit 30 may include an image processing unit 36, an output unit 34, and an input unit 32 for processing a magnetic resonance image signal received from the RF receiving unit 38.

The image processor 36 can process the MR image signal received from the RF receiver 38 to generate MR image data for the object 10.

The image processor 36 applies various signal processing such as amplification, frequency conversion, phase detection, low frequency amplification, filtering, and the like to the MRI image signal received by the RF receiver 38.

The image processing unit 36 can arrange the digital data in the k space, for example, and reconstruct the image data into two-dimensional or three-dimensional Fourier transformed data.

In addition, various signal processes applied to the magnetic resonance image signal by the image processing unit 36 can be performed in parallel. For example, a plurality of magnetic resonance image signals may be reconstructed into image data by applying signal processing in parallel to a plurality of magnetic resonance image signals received by the multi-channel RF coil.

The output unit 34 can output the image data or the reconstructed image data generated by the image processing unit 36 to the user. The output unit 54 may output information necessary for a user to operate the MRI system, such as a UI (user interface), user information, or object information. The output unit 54 may include a speaker, a printer, or various image display means.

The user can input object information, parameter information, scan condition, pulse sequence, information on image synthesis and calculation of difference through the input unit 32. The input unit 32 may include a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball, a voice recognition unit, a gesture recognition unit, a touch screen, and the like, and may include various input devices within a range obvious to those skilled in the art.

The control unit 40 includes a sequence control unit 42 for controlling a sequence of signals formed in the MRI scanner 10 and a scanner control unit 48 for controlling the MRI scanner 10 and the devices mounted on the MRI scanner 10, . ≪ / RTI >

The sequence control unit 42 includes an inclination magnetic field control unit 44 for controlling the gradient magnetic field amplifier 22 and an RF control unit 46 for controlling the RF transmission unit 26, the RF reception unit 28 and the switching unit 24. [ do. The sequence control unit 42 can control the gradient magnetic field amplifier 22, the RF transmission unit 26, the RF reception unit 28 and the switching unit 24 according to the pulse sequence received from the interface unit 30. [ The pulse sequence includes all information necessary for controlling the gradient magnetic field amplifier 22, the RF transmitter 26, the RF receiver 28 and the switching unit 24, and for example, a pulse applied to the gradient coil 24 the intensity of the pulse signal, the application time, the application timing, and the like.

The monitoring unit 50 monitors or controls devices mounted on the MRI scanner 10 or the MRI scanner 10. The monitoring unit 50 may include a system monitoring unit 52, an object monitoring unit 54, a table control unit 56, and a display control unit 58.

The system monitoring unit 52 monitors the state of the static magnetic field, the state of the gradient magnetic field, the state of the RF signal, the state of the RF coil, the state of the table, the state of the device for measuring the body information of the object, You can monitor and control the state of the compressor.

The object monitoring unit 54 monitors the state of the object and may be a camera for photographing the movement or position of the object, a respiration measuring unit for measuring the respiration of the object, an ECG measuring unit for measuring the electrocardiogram of the object, And a temperature measuring device for measuring temperature.

The table control unit 56 controls the movement of the table in which the object is located. The table control unit 56 can control the movement of the table in synchronization with the sequence control signal output by the sequence control unit 42. [ For example, in moving imaging of a subject, the table control unit 56 may move the table in accordance with the sequence control, thereby causing the FOV (field of view) of the MRI scanner to move to the target object Can be photographed.

The display control unit 58 controls on / off of a display located outside and inside of the MRI scanner 10 or a screen to be output to the display. When the speaker is located inside or outside the MRI scanner 10, the display controller 58 may control on / off of the speaker or sound to be output through the speaker.

The MRI scanner 10, the RF coil 16, the signal processing unit 20, the monitoring unit 50, the control unit 40 and the interface unit 30 may be connected to each other wirelessly or wired, (Not shown) for synchronizing the clocks of the mobile stations. Communication between the MRI scanner 10, the RF coil 16, the signal processing unit 20, the monitoring unit 50, the control unit 40 and the interface unit 30 is performed by a high-speed digital communication unit such as LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signaling) Interface, an asynchronous serial communication such as a universal asynchronous receiver transmitter (UART), a hypo-synchronous serial communication, or a CAN (Controller Area Network) can be used. A communication method can be used.

2 is a diagram showing a pulse sequence related to the operation of a conventional magnetic resonance imaging apparatus.

When a current is supplied to the z-axis tilted coil 14z for a predetermined period of time to form a gradient magnetic field, the resonant frequency is changed to be larger or smaller depending on the size of the oblique magnetic field. When a high frequency signal corresponding to a specific position is applied through the RF coil 16, only a proton having a cross section corresponding to the specific position causes resonance. Thus, the z-axis gradient coil 154 is used for slice selection. As the slope of the oblique magnetic field formed in the z-axis direction is larger, a thin slice can be selected.

When the slice is selected through the inclined magnetic field formed by the z-axis tilted coil 14z, the spins constituting the slice all have the same frequency and the same phase, so that it is not possible to distinguish each of the spins.

At this time, if a gradient magnetic field is formed in the y-axis direction by the y-axis gradient coil 14y, the gradient magnetic field causes a phase shift such that the rows of the slice have different phases.

That is, when a y-axis oblique magnetic field is formed, the spindle of a row with a large oblique magnetic field changes its phase at a high frequency and the spindle of a row with a small oblique magnetic field changes its phase to a lower frequency. When the y-axis oblique magnetic field disappears, each row of the selected slice has a phase shift and has a different phase, thereby distinguishing the rows. Thus, the gradient magnetic field generated by the y-axis gradient coil 14y is used for phase encoding.

the slice is selected through the inclined magnetic field formed by the z-axis gradient coil 14z and the rows constituting the selected slice are distinguished in different phases through the gradient magnetic field formed by the y-axis gradient coil 14y. However, since each spindle constituting a row has the same frequency and the same phase, it can not be distinguished.

At this time, if a gradient magnetic field is formed in the x-axis direction by the x-axis gradient coil 14x, the x-axis gradient magnetic field causes the spinders constituting each row to have different frequencies to distinguish each of the spins. The inclined magnetic field generated by the x-axis gradient coil 14x is used for frequency encoding in this manner.

Thus, the oblique magnetic field formed by the z, y, and x-axis gradient coils encodes the spatial position of each spindle through slice selection, phase encoding, and frequency encoding.

In the above description, the z-axis direction is used for slice selection, the y-axis direction is used for phase encoding, and the x-axis direction is used for frequency encoding. However, this direction is for illustrative purposes only.

The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is characterized by the configuration of the image processing unit 36. [ At this time, the interface unit 30 including the image processing unit 36 or the image processing unit 36 may be implemented as a separate computing device, and based on the memory and the processor mounted on the computing device, And performs an operation of generating an image.

At this time, a program for generating a contrast enhanced magnetic resonance image is stored in the memory. A memory is a nonvolatile storage device that keeps stored information even when no power is supplied, and a volatile storage device that requires power to maintain stored information.

The processor generates a contrast enhancement magnetic resonance image based on the magnetic resonance signal received from the signal processing section 20 according to the execution of the program stored in the memory.

At this time, the magnetic resonance signal may be image data including a plurality of frames representing a space according to a time flow in the space-time encoding region (k, t-space).

As described above with reference to FIG. 1, the MRI scanner 10 adjusts another magnetic field with an electromagnetic pulse while fixing one magnetic field to generate a magnetic resonance signal, thereby exciting the spin system . Then, the MRI scanner 10 can obtain a magnetic resonance signal with respect to the space-time domain by forming a magnetic field based on the plurality of gradient coils 14.

As described above, the processor of the MRI apparatus 1 can receive the signal obtained from the MRI scanner 10. The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus 1 can generate a contrast enhanced magnetic resonance image using the magnetic resonance signal obtained from the MRI scanner 10.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of processing a contrast enhanced MRI image according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, a pulse sequence for acquiring a white blood magnetic resonance imaging image and a pulse sequence for acquiring a black blood magnetic resonance imaging image are applied through the magnetic resonance imaging apparatus 1, and magnetic resonance imaging data output as a response thereto is acquired S310). At this time, a contrast agent is injected into the object to be photographed.

For example, FLASH (Fast Low Angle Shot) technique can be used as a pulse sequence for acquisition of white blood flow magnetic resonance image using an oblique magnetic field capable of obtaining a large signal of blood flow. The FLASH technique is a representative T1-weighted imaging technique and is suitable for acquisition of white blood flow images in which a bright signal is generated in the bloodstream portion where the T1 value is decreased due to the contrast agent. It is appropriate to acquire the black blood flow signal by an imaging technique in which the signal of the moving spin can be suppressed. Typically, the pulse sequence and the spin echo technique of the spin echo series are applied to the motion based signal suppression module (MSDE) Sensitive gradient magnetic field (flow-sensitized GRE).

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a pulse sequence according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the pulse sequence for acquiring the white blood magnetic resonance image and the pulse sequence for acquiring the black blood magnetic resonance image are sequentially repeated to acquire magnetic resonance image data. In the drawing, a pulse sequence for acquiring a white blood magnetic resonance image and a pulse sequence for acquiring a black blood magnetic resonance image are shown to be applied once, respectively, but such a pulse sequence is repeatedly applied.

For example, as shown in (a), a pulse sequence corresponding to the FLASH technique is applied, and then, as shown in (b), corresponds to each variable three-dimensional turbo spin echo technique having a blood flow suppression function Lt; / RTI > This technique is a method of changing the gradient magnetic field so as to suppress a signal of a moving spin in each variable three-dimensional turbo-spin echo sequence. A large oblique magnetic field is added to both sides of the refocusing pulse applied after the 90- Or to increase the magnitude of the spoiler gradient field applied to both refocusing pulses.

As described above, the pulse sequence for acquiring the white blood flow magnetic resonance image and the pulse sequence for acquiring the black blood flow magnetic resonance imaging are sequentially applied together, and the magnetic resonance imaging data for the acquired sequence is obtained at one time, The movement of the patient can be suppressed and the effect of the difference in the concentration of the contrast agent remaining in the blood vessel and the lesion can be minimized. That is, in the case of acquiring the white blood flow magnetic resonance image and the black blood flow magnetic resonance imaging sequentially, the error due to the motion of the patient appears in the same manner, so that the error can be minimized when analyzing the two images. Accordingly, the error can be minimized when the white blood flow magnetic resonance image and the black blood flow magnetic resonance image are compared or fused.

Next, a white blood magnetic resonance image and an angiographic magnetic resonance image are generated using the obtained magnetic resonance data (S320).

For example, if the magnetic resonance signal is sampled at a Nyquist rate, the image can be reconstructed simply through a Fourier transform. In addition, if the magnetic resonance signal is sampled at a rate lower than the Nyquist rate, the image can be reconstructed using a conventional image reconstruction algorithm such as a compression sensing technique or a parallel imaging technique. Since such a reconfiguration algorithm is known in the art, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The white blood flow magnetic resonance image and the black blood flow magnetic resonance image generated in this way are provided to an image diagnostic person and can be used to diagnose whether a lesion occurs in a target object. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, And can be displayed in a deployed state. In addition, image processing can be performed to more clearly specify the lesion as described below.

The lesion is specified from the lesion estimation region based on the lesion estimation region specified in the black blood magnetic resonance imaging image and the blood vessel region in the white blood magnetic resonance imaging image (S330).

A more detailed description will be made with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for specifying a lesion in a contrast enhancement MRI image processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for generating a blood vessel road map according to an embodiment of the present invention. And FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a lesion identification process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, a lesion estimation region is specified in a region having a high brightness in a black blood flow magnetic resonance image (S332). The lesion estimation region can be automatically specified by the image processing algorithm based on the brightness intensity value of each pixel or the corresponding region is manually specified in the black blood flow magnetic resonance image by the image diagnostic person.

Next, a blood vessel road map is constructed from the white blood magnetic resonance imaging (S334).

That is, the region corresponding to the blood vessel in the white blood magnetic resonance image is divided into separate segments, and a road map of the blood vessel is constructed based on the segments. Image processing techniques for constructing the vascular roadmap can be based on pattern recognition based technology, model based technology, tracking based technology, artificial intelligence based technology, and neural network based technology. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, an active contour method, which is a model-based algorithm, can be used to extract a blood vessel region from a white blood flow image. The active contour method extracts a blood vessel region by widening the area of one lung curve. As shown in the figure, the blood vessel region can be extracted while gradually expanding the closed curve region (60 to 65).

Next, the lesion is estimated by comparing the lesion estimation region with the blood vessel road map (S336).

To this end, a region corresponding to the lesion estimation region specified above is specified in the white blood magnetic resonance imaging image, and the lesion is precisely specified based on the state information of the blood vessel region indicating whether or not the blood vessel region exists in the region. To this end, the previously configured vascular roadmap is utilized.

That is, if there is no region corresponding to the lesion estimation region on the blood vessel road map of the white blood flow magnetic resonance image, the entire lesion estimation region can be specified as a lesion.

In addition, if there is a region corresponding to the lesion estimation region on the blood vessel road map of the white blood flow magnetic resonance image, the blood vessel region can be excluded from the lesion estimation region based on the continuity of the region and the lesion estimation region, . Continuity can be judged by the pattern recognition based technology, the model based technology, the tracking based technology, the artificial intelligence based technology, and the neural network based technology described above.

Through such a process, the lesion is specified and the specified lesion is output through the display.

Referring to FIG. 7, the upper left portion shows the black blood flow image, and the portions 71 and 73 in which the signal is bright can be estimated as the lesion suspicious region. The lesion suspected areas (71, 73), which were firstly found in the black blood flow image, are visualized using the 3D blood flow image. Since the first lesion suspected region 71 can be specified as a lesion since it is not connected to any direction in the three-dimensional image, and the second lesion suspected region 73 has continuity in the three-dimensional image (right lower image) Area. ≪ / RTI > This is the most basic method to distinguish by the naked eye. By constructing a blood vessel road map from white blood flow image, the lesion area can be specified more precisely and accurately.

One embodiment of the present invention may also be embodied in the form of a recording medium including instructions executable by a computer, such as program modules, being executed by a computer. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. In addition, the computer-readable medium may include both computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes both volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Communication media typically includes any information delivery media, including computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave, or other transport mechanism.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing description of the present invention is for illustrative purposes only and that those of ordinary skill in the art can readily understand that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the present invention. will be. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single entity may be distributed and implemented, and components described as being distributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents are to be construed as being included within the scope of the present invention do.

1: Magnetic Resonance Imaging Device
10: MRI Scanner
20: Signal processor
30:
40:
50: Monitoring section

Claims (12)

A method for providing a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus with a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus,
(a) acquiring magnetic resonance imaging data by applying a pulse sequence for acquisition of a white blood flow magnetic resonance image and a pulse sequence for acquiring a blood flow magnetic resonance imaging;
(b) generating a white blood magnetic resonance imaging image and an angiography magnetic resonance imaging image based on the magnetic resonance imaging data; And
(c) specifying a lesion from the lesion estimation region based on the lesion estimation region specified in the black blood magnetic resonance imaging image and the state of the blood vessel region corresponding to the lesion estimation region in the white blood magnetic resonance imaging image; And a magnetic resonance imaging method. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the step (a) sequentially applies the pulse sequence for obtaining the white blood magnetic resonance imaging image and the pulse sequence for acquiring the blood magnetic resonance imaging image, and then acquires the magnetic resonance imaging data together, . delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the step (c) includes comparing the lesion estimation region with a blood vessel road map in which a region corresponding to a blood vessel in the white blood magnetic resonance imaging image is divided into separate segments, and comparing the segment corresponding to the lesion estimation region with the lesion estimation region Wherein the lesion is specified by excluding the blood vessel region based on continuity of the lesion. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the step (c) generates the blood vessel road map based on a pattern recognition based technique, a model based technique, a tracking based technique, an artificial intelligence based technique, or a neural network based technique. The method according to claim 1,
And displaying the white blood magnetic resonance image and the black blood magnetic resonance image generated through the step (b) on the same screen. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus for providing a contrast enhanced MR image,
A memory for storing a program for generating a contrast enhanced magnetic resonance image from a magnetic resonance signal received from an MRI scanner,
And a processor for executing the program,
The processor obtains magnetic resonance imaging data by applying a pulse sequence for acquiring a white blood magnetic resonance imaging image and a pulse sequence for acquiring an angiography magnetic resonance imaging image. Based on the acquired magnetic resonance imaging data, And generates and outputs a black blood flow magnetic resonance image,
And specifies a lesion from the lesion estimation region based on a lesion estimation region specified in the black blood magnetic resonance imaging image and a state of a blood vessel region corresponding to the lesion estimation region in the white blood magnetic resonance imaging image. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the processor sequentially applies the pulse sequence for acquiring the white blood magnetic resonance image and the pulse sequence for acquiring the black blood magnetic resonance image, and then acquires the magnetic resonance image data together. delete 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the processor compares the lesion estimation region with a blood vessel road map in which a region corresponding to a blood vessel in the white blood magnetic resonance image is segmented into a separate segment and determines whether the segment corresponding to the lesion estimation region and the continuity of the lesion estimation region Wherein the lesion is identified by excluding the blood vessel region based on the detected lesion. 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the processor generates the vascular roadmap based on a pattern recognition based technique, a model based technique, a tracking based technique, an artificial intelligence based technique, or a neural network based technique. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the processor arranges and displays the generated white blood magnetic resonance image and the black blood magnetic resonance image on the same screen.

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