MR ELECTRIC PROPERTIES TOMOGRAPHY

• Main Author: KATSCHER, Ulrich, Wolfgang
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 25.10.2023
• Subjects: MEASURING; MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES; PHYSICS; TESTING

The invention relates to a method of MR imaging of an object (10) placed in an examination volume of an MR system (1). It is an object of the invention to enable an improved differentiation between abnormal/malignant tissue and tissue having a high water content in MR-EPT. The method of the invention comprises the following steps: generating MR signals by subjecting the object (10) to an imaging sequence comprising RF pulses and switched magnetic field gradients; acquiring the MR signals; reconstructing a magnitude MR image and a phase map from the MR signals for a given field of view within the object (10), which phase map is related to the spatial RF field distribution induced by the RF pulses within the field of view; deriving an electric conductivity map from the phase map, which electric conductivity map represents a measurement of the distribution of the electric conductivity within the field of view; deriving a further electric conductivity map from the magnitude MR image, which further electric conductivity map represents an estimation of the electric conductivity resulting from the distribution of water within the field of view; and identifying deviations of the two electric conductivity maps. Moreover, the invention relates to an MR system for carrying out this method as well as to a computer program to be run on an MR system.