Disclosed are a system, method, and computer program product for generating pruned tractograms of neural fiber bundles. The method includes receiving scan data produced by diffusion imaging of at least a portion of a brain from a magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI) device. The method also includes generating an initial tractogram by mapping neuronal fiber pathways of a target fiber bundle of the scan data. The method further includes generating a density map using a set of tracts from the initial tractogram, identifying each tract that passes through a segment of the density map more than once, and setting a contribution of said tract to a unique tract count of the segment equal to a threshold pruning value. The method further includes generating a pruned tractogram by identifying a segment having a unique tract count less than or equal to the threshold pruning value and excluding the segment from the pruned tractogram.

Techniques for compensating magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data for artefacts caused by motion of a subject being imaged. The techniques include obtaining spatial frequency data obtained by using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system to perform MRI on a patient, the spatial frequency data including first spatial frequency data and second spatial frequency data; determining a transformation using a first image obtained using the first spatial frequency data and a second image obtained using the second spatial frequency data; determining a residual spatial phase; correcting, using the transformation, second spatial frequency data and the residual spatial phase, to obtain corrected second spatial frequency data and a corrected residual spatial phase; and generating a magnetic resonance (MR) image using the corrected second spatial frequency data and the corrected residual spatial phase.

Systems and methods are provided for performing automated reconstruction of a dynamic MRI dataset that is acquired without a fixed temporal resolution. On one or more image quality metrics (IQMs) are obtained by processing a subset of the acquired dataset. In one example implementation, at each stage of an iterative process, one or more IQMs of the image subset is computed, and the parameters controlling the reconstruction and/or the strategy for data combination are adjusted to provide an improved or optimal image reconstruction. Once the IQM of the image subset satisfies acceptance criteria based on an estimate of the overall temporal fidelity of the reconstruction, the full reconstruction can be performed, and the estimate of the overall temporal fidelity can be reported based on the IQM at the final iteration.

A magnetic resonance (MR) image is created by executing an imaging sequence with an MR apparatus, wherein data in k-space are acquired using multiple receiving antennae, and reconstruction of all image points that correspond to all k-space points belonging to the imaging sequence takes place using a sensitivity profile of the receiving antennae in order to also take account of data at k-space points at positions at which no data were acquired. Data acquired at a number of positions of particular k-space points, the number of the particular k-space points being smaller than the number of all k-space points belonging to the imaging sequence. The aperture of each of the receiving antennae is configured such that, for acquisition of data at a respective k-space point, the spectral main lobe of the respective receiving antenna also extends over k-space points adjacent to the respective k-space point.

The invention provides for a magnetic resonance imaging system (100, 300, 100) for acquiring magnetic resonance data (110, 1104) from a subject (118) within an imaging zone (108). The magnetic resonance imaging system comprises a memory (136) for storing machine executable instructions (160, 162, 164, 166, 316) and pulse sequence data (140, 1102). The pulse sequence data comprises instructions for controlling the magnetic resonance imaging system to acquire magnetic resonance data according to a magnetic resonance imaging method. The magnetic resonance imaging system further comprises a processor (130) for controlling the magnetic resonance imaging system. Execution of the machine executable instructions causes the processor to: acquire (1200) the magnetic resonance data by controlling the magnetic resonance imaging system with the pulse sequence data; calculate (1202) a B0 inhomogeneity map (148) by analyzing the magnetic resonance data according to the magnetic resonance imaging method, calculate (1204) a B1 phase map (150) and/or a B1 amplitude map (1106) by analyzing the magnetic resonance data according to the magnetic resonance imaging method; and calculate (1206) a second derivative (1110) of the B1 phase map and/or a second derivative of the B1 magnitude map 1 and/or a second derivative of the B0 in homogeneity map in at least one predetermined direction. The second derivative is calculated using a corrected voxel size in the at least one predetermined direction, wherein the corrected voxel size is calculated using a correction factor calculated from the derivative of the B0 inhomogeneity map.

A method of identifying chronic pain in a patient including using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), performing a functional brain scan in the NAc (nucleus accumbens) of a patient brain including extracting activity from the NAc. Database information, which includes fMRI data obtained from healthy patients, may be compared to the extracted activity to determine if patient is a chronic pain patient. In patients with chronic pain, the method may be repeated to evaluate the effects of the treatment. A resting state brain scan may be performed initially, and a Fourier transform may be performed to obtain frequency content. The frequency bands of the method may be broken down to extract information in a 0.01-0.027 Hz frequency band.

Calibration data is determined for a reconstruction of image data from scan data acquired via a magnetic resonance system. This includes specifying acquisition shots for an acquisition of desired scan data in which acquisition shots scan data is acquired after radiating-in an RF excitation pulse, identifying first acquisition shots among the acquisition shots specified in which scan data is acquired in a central region in k-space, stipulating a sequence in which the specified acquisition shots are to be carried out such that first acquisition shots are arranged in the sequence in a starting portion to be carried out first, acquiring the scan data by carrying out the specified acquisition shots in the stipulated sequence, determining calibration data from scan data acquired in the starting portion of the sequence, and reconstructing image data using the acquired scan data and the specified calibration data.

System for performing fully automatic brain tumor and tumor-aware cortex reconstructions upon receiving multi-modal MRI data (T1, T1c, T2, T2-Flair). The system outputs imaging which delineates distinctions between tumors (including tumor edema, and tumor active core), from white matter and gray matter surfaces. In cases where existing MRI model data is insufficient then the model is trained on-the-fly for tumor segmentation and classification. A tumor-aware cortex segmentation that is adaptive to the presence of the tumor is performed using labels, from which the system reconstructs and visualizes both tumor and cortical surfaces for diagnostic and surgical guidance. The technology has been validated using a publicly-available challenge dataset.

A method of imaging an implant device in a computing device is provided. The computing device includes a processor interconnected with a memory and a display. The method includes, at the processor: obtaining a first magnetic resonance (MR) image of a patient tissue, the first MR image containing a first magnetic field strength indicator; responsive to the implant device being inserted in the patient tissue, obtaining a second MR image of the patient tissue, the second MR image containing a second magnetic field strength indicator smaller than the first magnetic field strength indicator; registering the second MR image with the first MR image; generating a composite image from the first MR image and the second MR image; and presenting the composite image on the display.

An MR Spectroscopy (MRS) system and approach is provided for measuring spectral information corresponding with propionic acid (PA), either alone or in combination with other measurements corresponding with other chemicals, to diagnose and/or monitor at least one of bacterial infection, such as associated with P. acnes, or conditions related thereto such as nociceptive pain associated with tissue acidity. An interfacing DDD-MRS signal processor receives output signals to produce a post-processed spectrum, with spectral regions corresponding with certain chemicals, including PA, then measured as biomarkers. A diagnostic processor derives a diagnostic value for each disc, and performs certain normalizations, based upon ratios of the spectral regions related to chemicals implicated in degenerative painful tissue pathology, such as PA and hypoxia markers of lactic acid (LA) and alanine (AL), and structural chemicals of proteoglycan (PG) and collagen or carbohydrate (CA).