MRI Respiratory Gating via Predictive Navigator Echoes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current MRI imaging techniques face challenges in maintaining high data acquisition efficiency and image quality due to respiratory motion, particularly in respiratory synchronization measurement and navigator echo methods, which often result in low data acquisition rates and image quality deterioration.
Innovation Solution
An MRI device that performs multiple divided measurements, acquiring extremely short navigator echoes to determine whether to continue or discontinue data acquisition, using a control section to manage navigation and main measurements based on cyclic displacement references to adapt to changes in respiratory state.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If respiratory synchronization measurement is performed by monitoring body motion and imaging only during stable periods, then image quality is maintained, but data acquisition efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary navigation measurements to predict future respiratory states before the actual imaging measurement. By acquiring navigator echoes in advance and predicting whether the respiratory state will be stable during the upcoming imaging window, the system can proactively decide whether to proceed with data acquisition, thereby improving efficiency while maintaining image quality through predictive gating.
2Reliability
If navigator echo method is used to detect body motion and perform respiratory gating, then image quality deterioration is suppressed, but data acquisition rate remains low
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs a brief preliminary navigation measurement that acquires only one or a few navigator echoes rather than continuous monitoring, just enough to predict the respiratory state. This partial measurement approach reduces the time overhead compared to continuous navigation echo acquisition while still providing sufficient information to gate the main imaging measurement, thereby improving data acquisition rate while maintaining image quality.
3Reliability
If measurement is performed only during stable respiratory periods, then image quality is maintained, but measurement time is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs a brief preliminary navigation measurement to predict future respiratory stability before the main imaging measurement. This allows the system to identify and utilize upcoming stable respiratory periods without losing time to extensive preliminary monitoring, as the prediction requires only minimal navigation echoes acquired in advance.
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 allows for continuous data acquisition without loss of time, effectively addressing image quality deterioration and improving data acquisition rates by monitoring and adjusting to respiratory motion changes.
Implementation Method 1
a measurement section that executes a navigation measurement to acquire a navigator echo that specifies a cyclic displacement of an object to be inspected
Implementation Method 2
a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device that measures a nuclear magnetic resonance signal from hydrogen, phosphorus, and the like in a subject
Data Source
AI summary
To suppress the image quality deterioration due to respiratory motion and changes thereof, and improve the data acquisition rate. An MRI device according to the present invention repeats a main measurement in a predetermined unit, and performs a navigation measurement to acquire one or a plurality of the navigator echoes between the measurements in the temporally adjacent two predetermined units, and performs determination as to whether to continue or discontinue the main measurement and determination as to whether to discard immediately prior measurement data. In the determination, at least two navigator echoes are used, and by using a position of a site to be monitored by the navigation measurement and a displacement width serving as a reference of the displacement stability, whether the position and the displacement width satisfy a reference displacement and a reference displacement width, which have been obtained in advance, is determined.