A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus includes a radio frequency (RF) controller configured to, during a repetition time (TR) period among TR periods, apply at least one RF pulse corresponding to a first slice to an object, and apply a navigator RF pulse corresponding to a second slice adjacent to the first slice to the object, a data obtainer configured to, during the TR period, obtain first k-space data corresponding to the applied at least one RF pulse, and obtain second k-space data corresponding to the applied navigator RF pulse, and an image processor configured to generate navigator images, based on pieces of second k-space data that are obtained during the TR periods, the pieces comprising the second k-space obtained during the TR period, correct the first k-space data, based on the navigator images, and generate a magnetic resonance image of the first slice, based on the corrected first k-space data.

The invention relates to a method of MR imaging of an object (10) placed in an examination volume of a MR device (1). It is an object of the invention to enable distortion-free high-quality diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) with minimization of artefacts caused by motion. The method of the invention comprises the following steps: —subjecting the object (10) to a dual echo steady state imaging sequence, a free induction decay signal (FID) and an echo signal (ECHO) being generated in each interval between two successive RF pulses, wherein a pair of diffusion gradient waveforms (GDIF) of equal phase integral and opposed polarity is applied in the interval between the FID signal and the echo signal; —acquiring the FID signals and the echo signals in a number of repetitions of the imaging sequence with varying phase encoding; and —reconstructing a diffusion weighted MR image from the acquired FID signals and echo signals. Moreover, the invention relates to a MR device for carrying out this method as well as to a computer program to be run on a MR device.

A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system and method for acquiring magnetic resonance (MR) images using a pulse sequence implementing driven equilibrium and quadratic phase cycling techniques is provided. The method includes, during a pulse repetition period of a pulse sequence and using a quadratic phase cycling scheme, applying a first RF pulse to deflect a net magnetization vector associated with the subject from a longitudinal plane into a transverse plane; after applying the first RF pulse, applying a first sequence of RF pulses each of which flips the net magnetization vector by approximately 180 degrees within the transverse plane; and after applying the first sequence of RF pulses, applying a second RF pulse to deflect the net magnetization vector from the transverse plane to the longitudinal plane.

A method for performing magnetic resonance fingerprinting includes acquiring a plurality of MR image datasets using at least two pulse sequence types, the plurality of MR image datasets representing signal evolutions for image elements in a region of interest, comparing the plurality of MR image datasets to a dictionary of signal evolutions to identify at least one parameter of the MR image datasets and generating a report indicating the at least one parameter of the MR image datasets.

A method for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may include cause, based on a pulse sequence, a magnetic resonance (MR) scanner to perform a scan on an object. The pulse sequence may include a steady-state sequence and an acquisition sequence that is different from the steady-state sequence. The steady-state sequence may correspond to a steady-state phase of the scan in which no MR data is acquired. The acquisition sequence may correspond to an acquisition phase of the scan in which MR data of the object is acquired. The method may also include generating one or more images of the object based on the MR data.

The present invention relates generally to medical imaging and, more particularly, relates to systems and methods for obtaining magnetic resonance (MR) images of tissues and organs (particularly of the heart) or parts thereof.

A tissue type fraction within a biological object is determined by a phase-cycled acquisition of several images of the object and deriving a complex signal profile for each voxel of the acquired images; generating a multidimensional dictionary of simulated signal profiles, wherein each simulated signal profile is configured for simulating the previously derived complex signal profile; using a weight optimization algorithm configured for expressing the complex signal profile as a weighted sum of the simulated signal profiles, wherein the weight optimization algorithm provides as output for each voxel a matrix M of optimized weights; for each voxel and each dimension of the obtained matrix M, extracting from the matrix M a distribution of the obtained optimized weights; and determining a type of tissue composing each voxel from the obtained distributions.

Methods and apparatus for operating a low-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system to perform diffusion weighted imaging, the low-field MRI system including a plurality of magnetics components including a B.sub.0 magnet configured to produce a low-field main magnetic field B.sub.0, at least one gradient coil configured to, when operated, provide spatial encoding of emitted magnetic resonance signals, and at least one radio frequency (RF) component configured to acquire, when operated, the emitted magnetic resonance signals. The method comprises controlling one or more of the plurality of magnetics components in accordance with at least one pulse sequence having a diffusion-weighted gradient encoding period followed by multiple echo periods during which magnetic resonance signals are produced and detected, wherein at least two of the multiple echo periods correspond to respective encoded echoes having an opposite gradient polarity.

A method is proposed for recording diagnostic measurement data of a head of an examination object in head imaging via a magnetic resonance device. The method comprises performing an overview scan of the head of the examination object, wherein overview measurement data is acquired in the overview scan and performing various diagnostic scans of the head of the examination object based on the acquired overview measurement data, wherein diagnostic measurement data is acquired in the various diagnostic scans.

A method for quantifying T1, T2 and resonance frequency simultaneously using magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF) includes accessing an MRF dictionary using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. The MRF dictionary is generated by simulating signal evolutions that include associated off-resonance effects for each signal evolution. The method further includes acquiring MRF data from a region of interest in a subject using the MRI system and a MRF pulse sequence having a plurality of radio frequency (RF) excitations and a readout associated with each RF excitation. Each readout includes a plurality of segments and each segment is used to generate a time frame. The method also include comparing the MRF data to the MRF dictionary to identify a plurality of parameters including T1, T2 and resonance frequency for the MRF data and generating a report indicating the at least one of the plurality of parameters of the MRF data.