METHOD FOR IMPROVING SPINAL CORD CONTRAST IN MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING

• Main Authors: GIRARD, Olivier Maciej, DUHAMEL, Guillaume Didier David, CALLOT, Virginie
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 04.04.2019
• Subjects: DIAGNOSIS; HUMAN NECESSITIES; HYGIENE; IDENTIFICATION; MEASURING; MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES; MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; PHYSICS; SURGERY; TESTING

A method for producing an MRI image, including acquiring multiple intermediate images of a subject under analysis using alternating preparation phases; synchronizing the acquisitions with a physiological variable of the subject; forming a first and a second set of intermediate images resulting from distinct preparation phases; assigning to each intermediate image a timestamp based on the time elapsed between the acquisition time of the current intermediate image and the previous intermediate image; matching intermediate images of the first set with respective intermediate images of the second set based on their timestamps being equal within a tolerance margin; producing a first candidate output image based on a function of the matched intermediate images; increasing the tolerance margin by an increment; reiterating the matching step to produce a further candidate output image; and selecting as an output image a candidate image based on the signal-to-noise ratio of the candidate image.