210 results about "Multi slice" patented technology

A cerebral ischemia diagnosis assisting apparatus comprises a storing portion for storing multi-slices or volume data with regard to the head portion of a subject, an image generating portion for generating a tomography image of a brain from the multi-slices or the volume data, an image processing portion for processing the tomography image for generating a contrast highlighting image and a brain sulci highlighting image or either thereof, and a display portion for displaying the tomography image along with the contrast highlighting image and the brain sulci highlighting image.

For the purpose of reconstructing a plurality of X-ray tomographic images having a plurality of practical slice thicknesses while reducing the number of X-ray detector arrays and simplifying configuration, X-rays generated by an X-ray tube 4 are emitted via a slit 15 of a collimator 6 toward a detector 8 disposed opposite to the X-ray tube 4; the length (width) of the collimator 6's slit 15 in the D1 direction and the position of the collimator 6 in the D1 direction are adjustable; the detector 8 is comprised of four X-ray detector arrays; and the widths of the two outer X-ray detector arrays in the D1 direction are larger than the widths of the two center X-ray detector arrays.

An MRI apparatus having an ability of displaying images of flow in different directions in distinguishable manner. When this MRI apparatus performs multi-slice acquisition with a predetermined repetition time TR by selecting a plurality of slices approximately perpendicular to the flow direction of an object to be examined, it performs a first measurement of exciting the plurality of slices in a first order and a second measurement of exciting the same slices in the opposite order to obtain two kinds of data whose signal intensity differs depending on the flow direction. The two kinds of data obtained by two measurements are subjected to subtraction operation to obtain data with different signs depending on the flow direction. These signs combined with the signal intensity are made into images where flow in opposite directions are distinctively depicted. In the multi-slice acquisition, slices are selected so that adjacent slices partially overlap in the direction of the thickness of the slice. Thereby signals of a static part can be suppressed and contrast of flow images after substraction can be enhanced. EPI method of very short imaging time can be employed for the imaging sequence of MRA according to the present invention.

Systems and methods for obtaining multi-slice images having a total thickness of up to about 160 mm or more in a single gantry rotation in computed tomography or volume computed tomography are described. One embodiment comprises an extended, multi-spot x-ray source for computed tomography or volume computed tomography imaging, comprising: an electron gun capable of producing a plurality of electron beams, each electron beam focused at a predetermined distance and aimed in a predetermined direction; and a plurality of targets positioned to receive the electron beams and generate x-rays in response thereto, each target comprising a predetermined focal spot thereon, wherein each electron beam is synchronized to strike, at an appropriate time, a predetermined target comprising a predetermined focal spot thereon.

A magnetic resonance (MR) method and system are provided for generating real-time prospective motion-corrected images using fast navigators. The real-time motion correction is achieved by using a 2D EPI navigator that is obtained using a simultaneous multi-slice blipped-CAIPI technique. The navigator parameters such as field of view, voxel size, and matrix size can be selected to facilitate fast acquisition while providing information sufficient to detect rotational motions on the order of several degrees or more and translational motions on the order of several millimeters or more. The total time interval for obtaining and reconstructing navigator data, registering the navigator image, and providing feedback to correct for detected motion, can be on the order of about 100 ms or less. This prospective motion correction can be used with a wide range of MR imaging techniques where the pulse sequences do not have significant intervals of “dead” time.

The invention discloses a method for intravascular ultrasound multi-slice shear wave elastography. The method comprises the following steps of recording an original ultrasound echo signal of a tissue to be detected; enabling an interventional ultrasound array probe to generate acoustic radiation force by virtue of a short-pulse signal controlled by a computer; emitting ultrasonic pulse beams for many times to accept and detect a propagation process of shear waves generated by the acoustic radiation force; analyzing the propagation speed of the shear waves in the tissue to be detected to obtain a wave speed distribution image of the shear waves in the tissue; performing wave speed mapping on the shear waves at each position in the tissue to be detected to obtain a quantitative elastic image of the intravascular tissue. The method has the advantages of real time performance, quantification, high speed, high resolution and the like; a multi-array element intravascular transducer array is used for performing vascular wall tissue elastic information quantitative analysis to excite and track the shear waves; the further popularization and application of intravascular elastography are favorably promoted, and the early diagnosis capability of people in cardiovascular diseases is enhanced.

This invention is a method for multi-slice CBF imaging using continuous arterial spin labeling (CASL) with an amplitude modulated control which is both highly effective at controlling for off resonance effects, and efficient at doubly inverting inflow spins, thus retaining the signal advantages of CASL versus pulsed ASL techniques.

A method of automatically detecting pulmonary nodules is provided, including the operations of acquiring a chest computed tomography (CT) image, extracting a lung region from the chest CT image, extracting a group of nodule candidates from the lung region using a gray-level thresholding technique and a three-dimensional (3-D) region growing technique, and performing 3-D feature recursive analysis on all of the nodule candidates.

Mapping of myelin water content in white matter may provide important information for early diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and the detection of white matter abnormality in other diseases. It is disclosed here that free induction decay (FID) of each voxel at multiple slice locations is acquired in the brain using an echo-planar spectroscopic imaging (EPSI) pulse sequence. The multi-slice EPSI acquisition is designed to have a short first echo time (˜2 ms) and echo-spacing (˜1 ms) in order to acquire multiple sampling points during the fast decay of the myelin water signal. Multi-compartment analysis is then applied to the FID in each pixel using a 3-pool model of white matter to obtain quantitative maps of the myelin water fraction. Using this technique, the MR data for whole brain mapping of the myelin water can be acquired in less than 10 minutes, making this technique feasible for routine clinical applications.

In a magnetic resonance apparatus and method for acquiring magnetic resonance data, a magnetic resonance data acquisition scanner executes a turbo spin echo (TSE) data acquisition sequence with simultaneous multi-slice (SMS) imaging wherein nuclear spins in two different slices of an examination subject are simultaneously excited so as to produce respective echo trains. The magnetic resonance data acquisition scanner is operated with the SMS imaging configured so that magnetic resonance signals from the respective slices have a different contrast, with the SMS being configured to allow evolution of magnetization of the nuclear spins for the second contrast while magnetic resonance signals with the first contrast are being detected. The respective magnetic resonance signals from the two different slices are detected and entered into an electronic memory organized as k-space, as k-space data.

A scanning electron beam computed tomographic system eliminates axial offset between target and detector by disposing the target, collimator, and detector such that active portions of the target and detector are always diametrically opposite each other. This result is achieved by providing a helical target, collimator, and detector, or by providing planar target, collimator, and detector components that are inclined relative to the vertical axis such that active portions of the target and detector are always diametrically opposite each other. Either configuration eliminates cone beam error and the necessity to correct for same. Further, the system can provide multi-slice scanning of an object that is in constant motion at a critical velocity, without having to interpolate data. Conventional helical scanning may still be undertaken. Detector elements can be disposed axially to improve signal/noise ratio and to produce a cone beam cancellation effect.

An MRI apparatus essentially consisting of a static magnetic field generating system, a gradient magnetic field generating system, a transmission system, a receiving system, a sequencer, a signal processing system and means for displaying the resulting image, wherein the sequencer generates a pulse sequence comprising pulse sequence units each including applying of radio frequency magnetic field pulses for exciting a plurality of slices, the pulses being in a number identical to the number of the slices, applying subsequently sequentially of a plurality of 180 DEG pulses each for simultaneously exciting all of the slices, and acquisition of echo signals for each slice; and the signal processing system arranges the acquired echo signals for a single image on a k-space for each slice in accordance with the phase encoding and performs image reconstruction operation using the signals. The MRI apparatus of the present invention reduces the number of RF pulses applied and enables fast multi-slice imaging.

A multi-slice double inversion recovery (DIR) pulse sequence with read out of a signal for imaging successive slices implemented on a magnetic resonance image scanner. In the method, when the DIR pulse sequence is applied before imaging each slice, a slab-selective inversion re-inverts the entire slab that includes all of the slices. All slices are imaged within a predefined repetition time (TR). The number, N, of slices acquired per TR controls the inversion time to execute the read out of the signal for imaging each slice at a zero-crossing point of blood. In a test, multi-slice DIR images of carotid arteries were obtained with N ranging from 2-8, for four subjects. The results were compared with those for both standard single-slice DIR, and inflow saturation techniques. Multi-slice DIR with N=2-6 provided blood flow suppression in carotid arteries similar to that of single-slice DIR, and significantly better than inflow saturation.

A volumetric method for 2-D flow imaging is provided in medical diagnostic ultrasound. Flow data for a volume is acquired. For more rapid acquisition, broad beam transmission and reception along many scan lines distributed in the volume is used. The volumetric flow data is filtered, such as by calculating statistical information, to generate a planar/2-D flow image. The statistical information from the three-dimensional flow data is used to determine the display values for the flow imaging.