Cardiac MR Diffusion Timing via Geometry Parameter Averaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current diffusion measurements in cardiac MRI are influenced by tissue deformation during the cardiac cycle, leading to errors due to compression or expansion, which complicates the process and requires complex or time-consuming methods to account for deformation patterns.
Innovation Solution
A method to determine a measuring point-in-time in the cardiac cycle by analyzing the time curve of cardiac geometry parameters, such as blood volume, to identify a sweet spot where deformation-induced influences are averaged out, allowing for diffusion measurements independent of tissue contractions or expansions, without the need for additional deformation measurements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If diffusion measurements are conducted during cardiac cycle without accounting for tissue deformation, then measurement process is simple, but measurement precision deteriorates due to compression or expansion errors
Solution Approach 1:
The method performs preliminary determination of the sweet spot in the cardiac cycle where tissue deformation effects are minimized or averaged out. By identifying this optimal timing point before conducting diffusion measurements, the method eliminates the need for complex real-time deformation correction during measurement, thus maintaining simplicity while improving accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The method changes the temporal parameter by selecting a specific point-in-time in the cardiac cycle (the sweet spot) where deformation effects are favorable. This parameter change in timing allows diffusion measurements to be conducted without requiring complex deformation accounting, resolving the contradiction between simplicity and precision
2Measurement precision
If complex methods are used to account for deformation patterns, then measurement precision improves, but device complexity and measurement time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The method extracts and utilizes the natural favorable condition (sweet spot) that already exists in the cardiac cycle where deformation effects are minimized. By taking advantage of this pre-existing optimal condition rather than adding complex correction mechanisms, the method achieves high precision without increasing device or method complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The cardiac cycle naturally provides a sweet spot where deformation effects are favorable for diffusion measurements. The method leverages this self-service property of the physiological system, where the body's own rhythm provides the optimal measurement window, eliminating the need for external complex correction systems
3Measurement precision
If additional deformation measurements are performed, then measurement precision improves, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The method merges the determination of optimal measurement timing with the diffusion measurement process itself. By identifying the sweet spot within the existing cardiac cycle framework and conducting diffusion measurements at this timing, the method combines timing optimization with the main measurement, eliminating the need for separate deformation measurement steps and reducing total measurement time
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach simplifies the determination of the sweet spot, making diffusion measurements independent of cardiac tissue deformations, reducing the complexity and time required for the process, and ensuring accurate results by averaging out deformation effects.
Implementation Method 1
Magnet resonance tomography (MRT) is a versatile imaging modality because MR images of an examination object can be generated with many different contrasts
Implementation Method 2
The observed variations in diffusion are generated by the movement of the water molecules in the tissue region in the spatial direction of the diffusion encoding
Implementation Method 3
a periodic intensity modulation is encoded in one spatial direction during a first heartbeat. During the period of one heartbeat this modulation is stored as a longitudinal magnetization, which relaxes with the T1 time
Data Source
AI summary
In a method and magnetic resonance (MR) system for determining at least one measuring point-in-time in a cardiac cycle for conducting diffusion measurements of the myocardium of an examination object, a sequence of MR images of the heart is acquired and a time curve of a parameter of the cardiac geometry is determined in the sequence of MR images. At least one mean of the parameter of the cardiac geometry is determined from the time curve of the parameter. For the determined at least one mean of the parameter, the associated point-in-time in the time curve of the parameter is determined in which the determined mean occurs, wherein the determined point-in-time defines the at least one measuring point-in-time in a cardiac cycle during which the diffusion measurements of the myocardium are carried out.