Automated Cardiac Motion Assessment for MRI Timing

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Current MRI techniques face challenges in accurately determining time periods of minimal cardiac motion within the cardiac cycle, leading to suboptimal image quality due to reliance on vendor-provided logic that does not account for individual patient morphology or location-specific variations, requiring cumbersome and time-consuming manual adjustments.

Innovation Solution

An automated method that performs a pre-scan to assess cardiac motion and determine motionless periods within the RR-interval, allowing for precise setting of Turbo Spin Echo sequence timing parameters to capture data during these periods, using signal intensity analysis and filtering techniques to identify no-motion windows.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If vendor-provided logic (e.g., capture-cycle) is used to set timing parameters, then the operation is simple and quick, but the image quality deteriorates because it does not account for individual patient morphology or location-specific variations

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of setting timing parametersVSAvoidimage quality

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system automatically determines the no-motion time window by analyzing the patient's own cine series data, eliminating the need for operator expertise or manual adjustment. The automated detection algorithm processes the cine frames, identifies motion characteristics, and sets the TSE timing parameters autonomously, allowing any operator to achieve optimal image quality without specialized knowledge

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

A cine series is acquired immediately before the TSE sequence to capture the actual cardiac motion characteristics of the patient at that moment. This preliminary data collection enables the system to determine the optimal no-motion window specific to the patient's current cardiac cycle, ensuring accurate timing setup before the actual imaging begins

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Measurement precision

If manual cine series acquisition and analysis is performed for each slice location, then the timing precision is improved, but the time consumption and operational complexity increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetiming precisionVSAvoidtime consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The automated detection algorithm serves multiple slice locations universally. Instead of requiring separate manual analysis for each slice, the system processes the cine series once and can determine appropriate timing parameters for multiple locations, reducing redundant operations while maintaining precision

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The manual operator analysis process is replaced by an automated computer-based algorithm. The system uses signal processing and image analysis techniques to objectively determine no-motion windows, eliminating the need for operator expertise and significantly reducing the time required while maintaining or improving timing precision

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Productivity

If the no-motion window is determined based only on RR duration using vendor logic, then the process is simple and fast, but the reliability deteriorates for patients with cardiac disease or at different locations

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvespeed of timing determinationVSAvoidreliability of no-motion window detection

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system determines timing parameters locally for each slice location by analyzing the actual cardiac motion in the cine series at that specific location. Instead of applying a universal RR-based rule, the algorithm identifies the no-motion window specific to each anatomical location being imaged, ensuring reliability for both normal and diseased hearts across different slice positions

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses feedback from the actual cine series data to adjust and determine the no-motion window. By continuously monitoring the cardiac motion characteristics in the acquired cine frames and using this information to set the TSE timing parameters, the system adapts to the patient's specific cardiac function and disease state, improving reliability over fixed RR-based logic

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS11119176B2Automatic capture of cardiac motion by pre-scan and automated data evaluation for determination of motionless periods within the RR-interval

Publication Date: 2021.09.14 SIEMENS HEALTHINEERS AG

AI summary

A method for determining time periods of minimal motion of a physiologic organ includes monitoring a physiologic triggering signal associated with a patient and using an MRI cine pulse sequence to acquire a temporal series of projections of the organ. The temporal series is analyzed to determine times relative to a physiologic triggering signal during which motion of the organ is below a threshold. Motion is assessed by first creating a signal intensity versus time curve of one pixel or an average of multiple pixels included in the temporal series. A noise filter and normalization is applied to the signal intensity versus time curve to yield a filtered and normalized time curve. The temporal derivative of the filtered and normalized time curve is determined. The absolute value of the motion-analog function is evaluated for being smaller than the threshold to determine the times where motion is below the threshold.