Systems and Methods for Magnetic Resonance Phantoms

Abstract

Embodiments of the disclosure provide a magnetic resonance (MR) phantom including a housing, a base medium disposed within the housing, and one or more compartment extending through the base medium, the one or more compartment comprising a crosslinked acrylamide-based polymer. The MR phantoms may be used as calibration phantoms for magnetic resonance elastography sequences and diffusion weighted images.

Description

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH[0001]This invention was made with government support under DK117354 and EB025729 awarded by the National Institutes of Health. The government has certain rights in the invention.BACKGROUND[0002]Medical imaging is a fundamental resource in the modern practice of clinical medicine. The ability to acquire anatomical, physiological, and pathological information about the patient non-invasively makes medical imaging ubiquitous in many clinical applications. Furthermore, medical imaging can be used to direct and deliver therapeutic or surgical procedures.[0003]In all of these settings, medical imaging provides powerful resources for the practice of clinical medicine by providing the ability to secure patient-specific information. However, medical imaging often struggles when looking to assess information across patients, or even longitudinally for a given patient. This occurs because medical imaging systems reflect a great deal of variabili...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides phantom systems and methods for improving magnetic resonance studies, including elastography sequences and diffusion weighted imaging. The phantom includes a sealed compartment containing a hydrogel made of a crosslinked acrylamide-based polymer and a solvent. The crosslinked acrylamide-based polymer is made up of at least 50% polymerized acrylamide monomer and less than 10% crosslinking agent. The technical effects are improved consistency and quality, leading to better outcomes in magnetic resonance imaging studies.

Problems solved by technology

However, medical imaging often struggles when looking to assess information across patients, or even longitudinally for a given patient.

Furthermore, increasing the complexity of the study, such as to include additional hardware systems that are coordinated with the MM system, such as is the case in magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), can further increase the variability caused by differences in systems, manufacturers, or even the technicians or clinicians involved in the studies.

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