The present disclosure relates to a field of medical imaging technology, and in particular, to an imaging plug-in device.
Positron Emission Computed Tomography (PET) has a sensitivity of up to a nanogram molecular level and may well obtain the functional and metabolic information of a to-be-detected object. However, a spatial resolution of the Positron Emission Computed Tomography is low. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology is widely used in clinical medicine, etc. An advantage of MRI imaging technology is high spatial resolution, which may obtain the structural information of the to-be-detected object. However, the sensitivity may only reach a milligram molecular level, and the acquisition of functional and metabolic information is not satisfactory. At present, science and clinic are developing and researching more advanced fusion images with anatomical structure and physiological and biochemical information, so as to provide information such as a development cycle from abnormal cell metabolism to structural variability, and provide more basis for clinical and scientific research of staging.
For example, a human brain may be imaged simultaneously using PET and MRI to improve imaging sensitivity and accuracy, so as to meet a user's requirements for anatomical and metabolic information. For neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, diagnosis of brain cancer, treatment monitoring and staging, and planning and evaluation of epilepsy surgery, MRI imaging and PET imaging technology may be used together for imaging, and then image fusion may be performed to improve an imaging effect, so as to meet the requirements of relevant research and clinical application.
In order to obtain a PET image and a MRI image of a to-be-detected object for image fusion, in the related art, the PET system and the MM system may be integrated in a device to form a PET/MRI system. However, these scanners are complex and expensive, which makes many institutions unable to afford. In addition, for institutions that have purchased the MRI system which is in normal use, if the institutions further purchase the PET/MRI system, a resource waste is caused, and a new solution is required.
An objective of the present disclosure is to integrate a new PET imaging system on a MRI system to realize a PET/MRI integrated system, thus solving a problem that the PET/MRI system is expensive and causes a resource waste of the existing MRI system.
The present disclosure provides an imaging plug-in device, applied to a magnetic resonance imaging system (MRI system for short). The magnetic resonance imaging system may include: a magnet, a gradient coil, a built-in body coil, a hospital bed, a gradient power amplifier, a radio frequency power amplifier, a spectrometer, a radio frequency front-end device, a computer host, and the like. The hospital bed is configured to carry the imaging plug-in device and a human body. The imaging plug-in device includes: a to-be-detected object holder, a PET detection component, a magnetic resonance phased coil, and a signal amplification component. The to-be-detected object holder is located at the magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generation structure, and configured to carry the to-be-detected object, and the to-be-detected object is a part of the human body. The PET detection component is configured to detect a PET signal from the to-be-detected object to generate a PET image of the to-be-detected object. The magnetic resonance phased coil at least includes a magnetic resonance receiving coil for detecting a magnetic resonance signal from the to-be-detected object and further includes a local transmitting coil configured to transmit a radio frequency signal to form a radio frequency field. The magnetic resonance signal includes a signal emitted by the to-be-detected object after being excited by the radio frequency field, which is used to generate a magnetic resonance image of the to-be-detected object. The signal amplification component is arranged to be at a distance from the magnetic resonance receiving coil less than a distance threshold to at least improve a signal-to-noise ratio of the magnetic resonance signal. The PET detection component is movable relative to the to-be-detected object holder to align the to-be-detected object or leave the to-be-detected object.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the magnetic resonance receiving coil and the local transmitting coil are split, and the transmitting coil is divided into two ways: a first way is that the local transmitting coil is arranged on a side of the PET detection component close to the to-be-detected object, and is called the local transmitting coil, and moves together with the PET detection component to align or leave the to-be-detected object; a second way is that the transmitting coil is a built-in body coil of the magnetic resonance imaging system.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the local transmitting coil is coupled to a local radio frequency transmission interface end of the magnetic resonance imaging system through an external junction box.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the external junction box includes a radio frequency power distributor.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the radio frequency power distributor is configured to generate two radio frequency signals with a same amplitude and a phase difference of 90 degrees.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, an input end of the radio frequency power distributor is coupled to the local radio frequency transmission interface end of the magnetic resonance imaging system, and two output ends of the radio frequency power distributor are respectively coupled to the local transmitting coil.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the signal amplification component is arranged in the external junction box to amplify the magnetic resonance signal received by the magnetic resonance receiving coil.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the magnetic resonance receiving coil and the local transmitting coil are integrated, and together form a single-layer transceiver common phased array coil.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the single-layer transceiver common phased array coil is arranged on a side of the PET detection component close to the to-be-detected object, and moves together with the PET detection component to align or leave the to-be-detected object.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the single-layer transceiver common phased array coil includes a plurality of channel coils; the plurality of channel coil have respective transmit/receive switches; the transmit/receive switch is configured to switch a working state of the channel coil corresponding to the transmit/receive switch, and the working state includes: a transmitting state and a receiving state.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the single-layer transceiver common phased array coil is coupled to the local radio frequency transmission interface end and a receiving coil receiving end of the MRI system through the external junction box.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the external junction box matched with the single-layer transceiver common phased array coil further includes a multi-channel radio frequency power distributor, wherein each channel of the multi-channel radio frequency power distributor has a one-to-one correspondence with each channel coil.
According to an 8-channel single-layer transceiver common phased array coil of the present disclosure, a phase difference between adjacent channel coils is 45 degrees, and phases of each channel are not repeated.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the multi-channel radio frequency power distributor includes a three-level power distributor and a phase shifter.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the external junction box includes a signal amplification component configured to amplify the magnetic resonance signal received by the transceiver common coil.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, at least part of the magnetic resonance receiving coil is arranged on the to-be-detected object holder; and/or at least part of the magnetic resonance receiving coil is detachably arranged on the to-be-detected object; and/or the magnetic resonance receiving coil includes a flexible phased array coil, and at least part of the flexible phased array coil is a wearable structure.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the PET detection component further includes a roller-like structure and a moving structure, wherein the moving structure is configured to drive the roller-like structure to move along an extension direction of the to-be-detected object holder.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the imaging plug-in device may be connected into the MRI system as a plug-in device, and the magnetic resonance receiving coil is used to detect the magnetic resonance signal from the to-be-detected object. The PET detection component is used to detect the PET signal from the to-be-detected object. In this way, organizations with the MRI system may obtain PET image information and MRI image information of the to-be-detected object simultaneously or in batches based on the existing MM system and the imaging plug-in device without purchasing the integrated PET/MRI system. Compared with the separate detection of to-be-detected object by the separate MRI system and PET system, the PET image information and MRI image information collected in embodiments of the present disclosure have better simultaneity and directionality, which is convenient for obtaining high-quality images after fusion.
The above and other objectives, features and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will become easier to understand through the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings, a plurality of embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in an exemplary and non-limiting manner.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below. Examples of embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference signs throughout represent the same or similar elements or elements with the same or similar functions. Embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are intended to explain the present disclosure, but may not be construed as limiting the present disclosure.
In the present disclosure, unless otherwise explicitly stated or limited, terms “installed”, “linked”, “connected”, “secured”, and the like should be interpreted in a broad sense, e.g., it may be fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrated; may be mechanically connected, may be electrically connected or may be in communication with each other; may be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intervening media, or may be internal communication of two elements or an interaction relationship between two elements unless otherwise specifically defined. Those skilled in the art may understand the specific meanings of the above-mentioned terms in the present disclosure according to specific situations.
In the description of the specification, the description referring to terms “one embodiment”, “some embodiments”, “examples”, “specific examples”, or “some examples” means that specific features, structures, materials, or features described in combination with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present disclosure. In the specification, the schematic expressions of the above-mentioned terms are not necessarily directed to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the described specific features, structures, materials or characteristics may be combined in an appropriate manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. In addition, without contradiction, those skilled in the art may incorporate and combine different embodiments or examples and features of different embodiments or examples described in the specification.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. Although any method and material similar or equivalent to those methods and materials described herein may be used in the practice or test of the present disclosure, preferred methods and materials are now described.
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In order to facilitate the understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure, a magnetic field generation structure is exemplarily described. The magnetic field generation structure includes but is not limited to a superconducting magnet, a resistance magnet and a permanent magnet.
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The PET detection component 11 is exemplarily described below.
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The PET detection component 11 may have a plurality of PET detectors arranged in a preset arrangement. The arrangement may be determined according to a mechanical structure design, such as to facilitate alignment with the to-be-detected object. In addition, it is also necessary to consider the feeling of the to-be-detected object. For example, when the to-be-detected object is a user's head, the PET detection component 11 should not be too close to the user's face. For example, a plurality of PET detectors are arranged adjacent to each other in a form of an array, and formed into a ring arranged around a part of a patient's body. A size of the ring is suitable for being received in a tunnel structure of the MRI system together with the to-be-detected object. For example, the PET detector includes a plurality of side walls stacked together to form a cylinder. Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) on the PET detector are compatible with the MM system to generate a PET image based on a signal output by the SiPMs.
The magnetic resonance phased coil is exemplarily described below.
Firstly, the magnetic resonance phased coil at least includes a magnetic resonance receiving coil 12. During the MM detection, the PET detection component 11 leaves the to-be-detected object, so that a detected part is completely exposed to a radio frequency radiation range of a built-in body coil of a system. The magnetic resonance receiving coil 12 is used together with the built-in body coil of the Mill system to obtain a magnetic resonance image signal. Then the PET detection component may be moved back and aligned with the detected part for PET image detection. In this way, the magnetic resonance image and the PET image are collected separately. Secondly, the magnetic resonance phased coil includes a local transmitting coil 14 placed on an inner side the PET detection component, which is used together with the magnetic resonance receiving coil 12. In this way, the magnetic resonance image and the PET image are collected simultaneously. Thirdly, the magnetic resonance phased coil includes a single-layer transceiver common phased array coil fixed on an inner side of the PET detection component to obtain a magnetic resonance image. In this way, the magnetic resonance image and the PET image are collected simultaneously.
The magnetic resonance receiving coil is exemplarily described below.
In an embodiment, at least part of the magnetic resonance receiving coil 12 may be fixed on the to-be-detected object. For example, the magnetic resonance receiving coil 12 includes a wearable structure. The wearable structure includes but is not limited to a structure which is made of an elastic material and may fix the magnetic resonance receiving coil 12 on the to-be-detected object, such as an elastic band, a clamp, a velcro, etc. For example, the magnetic resonance receiving coil 12 may switch between an open loop state and a closed loop state, which is convenient for wearing.
In an embodiment, the magnetic resonance receiving coil 12 includes a flexible phased array coil. The phased array system may include 4 to 8 coils or more coils.
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The local transmitting coil is exemplarily described below.
In an embodiment, the magnetic resonance phased coil further includes a magnetic resonance transmitting coil for transmitting a radio frequency signal to form a radio frequency field. The magnetic resonance transmitting coil may be a body coil in the MRI system or a local transmitting coil arranged in the PET detection component 11.
In an embodiment, since the PET detection component 11 has a radio frequency shielding effect on the built-in body coil of the magnetic resonance system, after the PET detection component 11 is removed from the to-be-detected object, the MRI image detection is performed. The MM signal detection method is very suitable for the MRI system without a local radio frequency transmission port. For the MRI system with the local radio frequency transmission port, the MM detection may be performed on the to-be-detected object without removing the PET detection component 11. The following settings may be adopted: the local transmitting coil (hereinafter referred to as Tx coil) and the magnetic resonance receiving coil (hereinafter referred to as Rx coil) may be set in two-layer local coil, and the local transmitting coil 14 and the magnetic resonance receiving coil 12 are installed in the PET detection component 11, wherein the two-layer coil is composed of the local transmitting coil 14 (such as a local birdcage transmitting coil) located in an outer layer and the magnetic resonance receiving coil 12 (such as a phased array receiving coil) located in an inner layer.
In an embodiment, since a certain distance is required to be maintained between the Tx coil and the Rx coil in order to eliminate an mutual interference between the Tx coil and the Rx coil, a mechanical design complexity increases when both the Tx coil and the Rx coil are fixed in the PET detection assembly 11. In addition, the PET detector module 11 is large in size due to a large space required for the Tx coil, the Rx coil, an electronic component, and the like, and is not easily disposed in a tunnel-shaped detection space of the MM. In addition, a space available for accommodating the to-be-detected object in PET detection component 11 is also squeezed. When the space available for accommodating the to-be-detected object is too small, a user experience will be reduced. In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a single-layer transceiver common phased array coil mode may be adopted.
In an embodiment, the magnetic resonance receiving coil 12 and the magnetic resonance transmitting coil 14 are integrated to form the single-layer transceiver common phased array coil 15, so that the MRI detection may be realized through the single-layer transceiver common phased array coil 15.
The imaging plug-in device 10 further includes a multi-channel radio frequency power distributor, and the multi-channel radio frequency power distributor includes an input end and a plurality of output ends. The number of output ends is the same as the number of channels of the phased array coil. The amplitude of the output signal at each output end is the same, and the phase difference corresponds to the phase difference between each channel coil 17. The input end is connected with the local radio frequency transmission interface end of the MRI system. The output end is connected with the corresponding channel P of the phased array coil through a transmit/receive switch (T/R switch) 18. At the same time, each channel of the phased array coil is connected with a corresponding preamplifier 132. In the embodiment, the transceiver common magnetic resonance phased array coil is characterized by single-layer coil and space saving.
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In an embodiment, an 8-channel coil is used as an example for illustration.
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The signal amplification component is exemplarily described below.
The signal amplification component is arranged to be at a distance from the magnetic resonance receiving coil less than a distance threshold. For example, the signal amplification component is arranged at a nearest settable place outside a region of interest of the PET detection component to obtain the best signal-to-noise ratio of the magnetic resonance signal. For example, the signal amplification component may be arranged on the imaging plug-in device in a front-end mode, such as arranged on a base accessory of the PET detection component.
An external junction box will be described below.
The external junction box at least includes a preamplifier and a power distributor or multi-channel power distributor with a phase difference of 90 degrees, and the phase of each channel is the same as the phase of the coil in the corresponding phased array coil.
In an embodiment, the signal amplification component is arranged in the external junction box 113, which may facilitate mode switching. When the local transmitting coil 14 is arranged in the PET detection component 11, the external junction box 113 may provide two interfaces: a signal amplification interface and a radio frequency signal interface. For another example, when the local transmitting coil 14 is not arranged in the PET detection component 11, the external junction box 113 may provide a signal amplification interface. That is, the external junction box 113 may only be provided with an amplification circuit, or the external junction box 113 may also be provided with an amplification circuit and a radio frequency generation circuit simultaneously. The radio frequency generation circuit may be used to generate two channels of radio frequency signals with a phase difference of 90 degrees or eight channels of radio frequency signals with a phase difference of 45 degrees.
It should be emphasized that the external junction box 113 should be compatible with combinations of coils of different modes, including two-layer coil (a local transmitting coil/a wearable flexible phased array head coil), a combination of a body coil built in the MM system for transmitting and a wearable flexible phased array head receiving coil, and the single-layer transceiver common phased array coil 15.
In an embodiment, the imaging plug-in device may further include: a to-be-detected object holder located at the magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generation structure, and used to carry the to-be-detected object, wherein the to-be-detected object is a part of the human body.
The to-be-detected object holder is exemplarily described below.
The to-be-detected object holder 16 may be a head holder, a wrist holder, a leg holder and other supporting structures, and may be arranged on the hospital bed of the MM system, and at least part of the imaging plug-in device may be arranged on the hospital bed. At least part of the magnetic resonance receiving coil is arranged on the to-be-detected object, and/or at least part of the magnetic resonance receiving coil is detachably arranged on the to-be-detected object, and/or the magnetic resonance receiving coil includes a flexible phased array coil, and at least part of the flexible phased array coil is arranged in a wearable structure.
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In an embodiment, a position of the to-be-detected object holder 16 may be fixed. In addition, in order to improve the convenience of Mill detection and PET detection, the position and posture of the to-be-detected object may be adjusted. For example, at least one of a height, a pitch angle, a heading angle and a roll angle of the to-be-detected object is adjustable. The to-be-detected object holder 16 may include a drive component, such as an electric drive component, a hydraulic drive component, a pneumatic drive component, etc. Through the drive component, the position and posture of the object to-be-detected holder 16 may be changed, such as adjusting at least one of the above-mentioned position and posture parameters.
In an embodiment, the PET detection component 11 further includes a roller-like structure and a moving structure. The PET detector is arranged in the roller-like structure. The moving structure is used to drive the roller-like structure to move along an extension direction of the to-be-detected object holder 16, and the extension direction of the to-be-detected object holder 16 is consistent with an axial direction of the roller.
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In addition, the imaging plug-in device may further include a mobile structure for driving the PET detection component 11 to move relative to the to-be-detected object holder 16 to align the to-be-detected object or leave the to-be-detected object. The mobile structure includes but is not limited to: a wheel, a guide structure (such as a slide rail, etc.). The magnetic resonance phased coil may further include a local transmitting coil 14. The local transmitting coil 14 may move together with the PET detection component 11. In
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The above embodiments are only used to illustrate technical solutions of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit technical solutions of the present disclosure. Although the present disclosure has been described in detail with reference to the preceding embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the technical solutions described in the preceding embodiments may still be modified, or some or all of the technical features may be equivalently replaced, and such modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions depart from the scope of the technical solutions of embodiments of the present disclosure.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CN2020/118048 | 9/27/2020 | WO |