The invention relates to a method of Dixon-type MR imaging. It is an object of the invention to provide a method that enables efficient and reliable Dixon water/fat separation, in particular using a bipolar acquisition strategy, while avoiding flow-induced leakage and swapping artifacts. According to the invention, an imaging sequence is executed which comprises at least one excitation RF pulse and switched magnetic field gradients, wherein pairs of echo signals are generated at two different echo times (TE1, TE2) and during two or more different cardiac phases (AW1, AW2). The echo signals are acquired and phase images are reconstructed therefrom. A final diagnostic image is reconstructed from the echo signal data using water/fat separation, wherein regions of flow and/or estimates of flow- induced phase errors are derived from the phase images to suppress or compensate for flow- induced leakage and/or swapping artifacts in the final diagnostic image. Therein, flow- induced phase offsets are determined by voxel-wise comparison of the phase images associated with the different cardiac phases. Moreover, the invention relates to a MR device (1) and to a computer program to be run on a MR device (1).

In a method and magnetic resonance (MR) apparatus for establishing imaging sequence parameter values with a reduced eddy current formation for flow-encoded magnetic resonance imaging, a number of different flow-encoded candidate raw datasets are acquired by executing a flow-encoded gradient measurement sequence with different imaging sequence parameter values from a test or calibration region of an examination object. Flow-encoded candidate image datasets are reconstructed from the different flow-encoded candidate raw datasets. A flow-encoded candidate image dataset is selected as a function of a background phase contrast established in a phase-contrast image assigned to the respective flow-encoded candidate image dataset. The imaging sequence parameter values assigned to the flow-encoded candidate image dataset are selected as parameter values for an imaging sequence for subsequent diagnostic flow-encoded magnetic resonance imaging.

A system and method for denoising experimental data originating from multiple acquisitions by a magnetic resonance imaging device, by analysis of selected principal components, to obtain a better compromise between the efficiency of the denoising and retention of the relevant information in the experimental data under consideration during their reconstruction to produce denoised experimental data. A selection criterion is based on the informative indicators quantifying the spatial information contained in images of scores associated with said principal components. The invention also provides for the capability to apply an adaptive filtering excluding the persistent spatial noise associated with each component selected.

A medical image processing apparatus including processing circuitry configured to obtain MR dynamic images acquired by MR imaging on a subject, in which a contrast agent has been injected, in accordance with an examination-time imaging condition including magnetic field information, contrast agent information, and/or tissue information, set a standard imaging condition, and calculate a first index value indicating a temporal change of an MR signal value caused by the contrast agent, the index value being standardized by conversion from the examination-time imaging condition to the standard imaging condition based on the MR dynamic images, the examination-time imaging condition, and the standard imaging condition.

Fluid parameters such as WSS and EL are accurately calculated, using flow velocity information obtained by diffusion tensor imaging. Dispersion of a flow velocity distribution of fluid is calculated, using a diffusion tensor image obtained with respect to an examination target containing fluid, and an estimation model is set for a distribution shape of intra-voxel flow velocity. Using the estimation model and the dispersion of the flow velocity distribution, a differential value of the flow velocity is calculated. Then, a fluid parameter representing a flow characteristic of the fluid is calculated.

An apparatus to jointly measure oxygen utilization and tissue strain includes an imaging system and a computer processor operatively coupled to the imaging system. The computer processor is configured to control the imaging system to perform a pulse sequence on tissue of a subject. The computer processor also acquires oxygen utilization data and strain data responsive to the pulse sequence. The computer processor further determines an amount of strain on the tissue of the subject based at least in part on the strain data and an amount of oxygen utilization of the tissue of the subject based at least in part on the oxygen utilization data.

An MRI image processing and analysis system may identify instances of structure in MRI flow data, e.g., coherency, derive contours and/or clinical markers based on the identified structures. The system may be remotely located from one or more MRI acquisition systems, and perform: error detection and/or correction on MRI data sets (e.g., phase error correction, phase aliasing, signal unwrapping, and/or on other artifacts); segmentation; visualization of flow (e.g., velocity, arterial versus venous flow, shunts) superimposed on anatomical structure, quantification; verification; and/or generation of patient specific 4-D flow protocols. A protected health information (PHI) service is provided which de-identifies medical study data and allows medical providers to control PHI data, and uploads the de-identified data to an analytics service provider (ASP) system. A web application is provided which merges the PHI data with the de-identified data while keeping control of the PHI data with the medical provider.

A computerized information processing method for evaluating blood vessels is provided. The method includes acquiring a series of sequences of measurements, each at different time points in at least one cardiac cycle and at a different point along a blood vessel segment of a subject, generating corresponding profiles, calculating a transfer function for a subsegment between two selected points along a blood flow direction, and based thereon determining the physiological property of the subsegment. The measurements can contain information of blood velocity or blood pressure. A processing device and system implementing the information processing method are also provided. This approach can be used to evaluate arteries or veins and can be applied in screening, diagnosis, or prognosis of a variety of vascular diseases. For example, when combined with MRI scan, this approach can be used for non-invasively diagnosing pulmonary hypertension (PH) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), etc.

A computer-implemented method for performing spatiotemporal background phase correction for phase contrast velocity encoded magnetic resonance imaging includes performing a phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging scan of a region of interest within a patient to yield a complex image and calculating a plurality of filter cut-off frequencies based on physiological limits associated with the patient. A spatiotemporal filter is created based on the plurality of filter cut-off frequencies. This spatiotemporal filter is applied to the complex image to yield a low-pass filtered complex image. Then, complex division is performed using the complex image and the low-pass filtered complex image to yield a corrected image.

A method is provided that determines velocity encoding direction of volumetric image data sets comprising three-directional velocity information (V0, V1, V2) of a target volume, which involves: a) defining a coordinate system (X, Y, Z); b) determining all the possible arrangements of the three velocity components (V0, V1, V2) along the three coordinate axes (X, Y, Z); c) determining reference point or points in the target volume either automatically or upon user input; d) determining streamlines for each point for all possible combinations of velocity components as determined in b); and e) considering as velocity encoding direction the arrangement of the three velocity components corresponding to the streamlines having the longest length or a length above a threshold.

A corresponding apparatus and computer program are also disclosed.