Complete and uniform saturation of myocardium is essential for quantitative myocardial perfusion imaging using the first pass of a contrast agent. At 3 T, inhomogeneities of both the static (B0) and radiofrequency (B1) magnetic fields have led to the use of adiabatic B1-insensitive rotation type 4 (BIR-4) pulses, which in practice are constrained by radiofrequency (RF) heating.
First-pass magnetic resonance (MR) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is an established technique for the assessment of ischemic heart disease. Saturation recovery preparation is widely used to produce T1-weighted images rapidly and with multiple slice coverage. Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of myocardial wall enhancement during the first pass is critical to the performance of this technique. Recent work at 3 T has demonstrated improved CNR and showed that the diagnostic performance of 3-T MPI is superior to that of 1.5 T for the identification of both single- and multiple-vessel coronary disease. Despite the gain in CNR, there are still major technical challenges in 3-T cardiac imaging, such as static (B0) and radiofrequency (B1) magnetic field inhomogeneities.
Qualitative and quantitative MPI both rely on complete and uniform saturation of myocardium, and the performance of saturation pulses is sensitive to variations in the B0 and B1 fields. Recent studies have compared the effectiveness of different saturation pulses and have shown that the rectangular RF pulse train and the adiabatic B1-insensitive rotation type 4 (BIR-4) pulse exhibit better saturation effectiveness than the conventional 90° rectangular hard pulse with 1.5-T and 3-T cardiac imaging. The conventional RF pulse train, however, is more susceptible to B1 inhomogeneity than the BIR-4 pulse. Conversely, the BIR-4 pulse has a higher specific absorption rate (SAR). These costs inherently limit their application at 3 T, where low RF power deposition and immunity to B0- and B1-field inhomogeneities are highly desirable. At 3 T, inhomogeneities of both the static (B0) and radiofrequency (B1) magnetic fields have led to the use of adiabatic B1-insensitive rotation type 4 (BIR-4) pulses, which in practice are constrained by radiofrequency (RF) heating.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to systems and methods for providing tailored RF pulse trains, based on estimated B0 and B1 profiles, for uniform saturation for MRI techniques. The tailored pulse trains are optimized to minimize residual longitudinal magnetization in target tissue. The B0 and B1 profiles can be measured a priori over a desired region of a patient, e.g., the heart or abdomen, and can overcome or mitigate SAR and B1 inhomogeneity constraints. In exemplary embodiments, the tailored pulse trains can include hard pulses with unequal weighting. In other embodiments, the tailored pulse trains can include BIR-4 pulse trains that are optimized to minimize residual longitudinal magnetization in target tissue. The tailored pulse train designs can improve the immunity to B1 variation while maintaining low RF power.
An aspect of the present disclosure provides MRI systems for providing tailored pulse trains, based on estimated B0 and B1 profiles, for uniform saturation for MRI techniques.
A further aspect of the present disclosure provides methods for providing tailored pulse trains, based on estimated B0 and B1 profiles, for uniform saturation for MRI techniques.
A further aspect of the present disclosure provides controllers for controlling the production and/or application of tailored pulse trains, based on estimated B0 and B1 profiles, for uniform saturation for MRI techniques.
These, as well as other components, steps, features, objects, benefits, and advantages of the present disclosure, will now become clear from a review of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments, the accompanying drawings, and the claims.
The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.
The drawings disclose illustrative embodiments. They do not set forth all embodiments. Other embodiments may be used in addition or instead. Details that may be apparent or unnecessary may be omitted to save space or for more effective illustration. Conversely, some embodiments may be practiced without all of the details that are disclosed. When the same numeral appears in different drawings, it refers to the same or like components or steps.
Aspects of the disclosure may be more fully understood from the following description when read together with the accompanying drawings, which are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as limiting. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed on the principles of the disclosure. In the drawings:
While certain embodiments are depicted in the drawings, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments depicted are illustrative and that variations of those shown, as well as other embodiments described herein, may be envisioned and practiced within the scope of the present disclosure.
Illustrative embodiments are now discussed. Other embodiments may be used in addition or instead. Details that may be apparent or unnecessary may be omitted to save space or for a more effective presentation. Conversely, some embodiments may be practiced without all of the details that are disclosed.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to systems and methods for providing tailored pulse trains, based on estimated B0 and B1 profiles, for uniform saturation for MRI techniques. The B0 and B1 profiles can be measured a priori over a desired region of a patient, e.g., the heart, and can overcome or mitigate SAR and B1 inhomogeneity constraints. The tailored pulse trains are optimized to minimize residual longitudinal magnetization in target tissue. In exemplary embodiments, the tailored pulse trains can include hard pulses with unequal weighting. In other embodiments, the tailored pulse trains can include BIR-4 pulse trains that are optimized to minimize residual longitudinal magnetization in target tissue. The tailored pulse train designs can improve the immunity to B1 variation while maintaining low RF power. MRI systems, methods, and controllers for providing tailored pulse trains are described.
The static field generator 110 generates a strong static magnetic field B0, which is used to line up nuclear spins in a target object (the MRI image of which is being generated by the apparatus 100) along B0. The gradient field generator 120 generates a gradient field G(r), which is superimposed on the static field B0, so that nuclei in a selected plane can be excited by a proper choice of the frequency spectrum of the transverse RF excitation field. The RF excitation field generator 130 generates an RF excitation field B1. When B1 is applied to the object, typically as an RF excitation pulse transverse to B0, the nuclei become excited (due to the RF energy imparted by the RF excitation pulse), so that the nuclear spins rotate by a flip angle. Subsequently, the excited nuclei gradually return to alignment with the static field B0, giving up the excitation energy in the form of weak but detectable FID signals, which are processed by the controller 140 to produce images of the target object. The controller 140 controls the operation of the MRI apparatus 100, including but not limited to the generation of the fields G(r), and B1, as well as the processing of the FID signals resulting from the de-excitation (precession and relaxation) of the nuclei in the object. The RF excitation field generator 130 can be controlled, e.g., by controller 140, to produce a pulse train/sequence of tailored pulses that have been designed to minimize longitudinal magnetization in target tissue, e.g., heart or abdomen, as described in further detail below.
Experiments were performed to test and validate embodiments of the present disclosure utilizing a commercial whole-body 3.0-T scanner (Signa Excite HD; GE Healthcare, Waukesha, Wis.) with gradients capable of 40-mT/m amplitude and 150-T/m/sec slew rate. A body coil was used for RF transmission and an 8-channel phased-array cardiac coil was used for signal reception. Parallel imaging was not used. In all studies, the transmit gain was calibrated using a standard pre-scan and the center frequency was adjusted over a three-dimensional (3D) region of interest containing the left ventricle (LV). Synchronization with the cardiac cycle was achieved with prospective triggering based on an electrocardiogram (ECG) signal. Each subject was screened for magnetic resonance imaging risk factors and provided informed consent in accordance with institutional policy.
The B0 and B1 maps shown in
With continued reference to
a (top) illustrates the measured B0 and B1 maps from a mid-short-axis slice in one representative volunteer. A Gaussian mixture model (GMM) was initially applied to cluster a region by using the expectation maximization algorithm to estimate the order and parameters of the GMM. For suitable GMM techniques, see, e.g., Everitt B S, Hand D J., Finite mixture distributions, Chapman and Hall, (1981), the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Other clustering techniques may be used in substitution or addition to GMM techniques. The 2D histogram of a given B0-B1 set and its clustered region (red line) are shown in
As shown in
Based on the B0-B1 ROI of
The pulse train weighting of an exemplary embodiment was optimized to produce the minimum cost according to EQ. 1, as shown in
For the optimization, each αi ranged from 70° to 240° in steps of 1° for n≦3, and 5° for otherwise (4≦n≦6). Minimum and maximum αi constraints were determined by 90° divided by the minimum and maximum B1 scale of the ROI. Other maxima determination techniques can of course be utilized. The peak B1 amplitude was fixed at 0.115 G, a typical value of body-coil transmission in commercial scanners when imaging medium to large-sized humans. T1 relaxation between RF subpulses was ignored, and the residual transverse magnetization was assumed to be completely removed by the crusher gradients. Therefore, the subpulses in a set (α1, . . . , αn) had no specific order, reducing the computation time.
a-c shows pulse sequence diagrams for the three different saturation pulses considered: (a) the BIR-4, (b) conventional pulse train, and (c) a tailored pulse train (n=3) of an exemplary embodiment. The tailored pulse train (n=3) had a 7.7-msec pulse duration (
d-f shows the saturation profiles as a function of off-resonance (horizontal axis) and B1 scale (vertical axis) using numerical Bloch simulation for the three saturation pulses depicted in
In vivo tests of exemplary embodiments of tailored pulses were performed in four healthy volunteers (one female and three males, age 31±2.1 years, height 173±5.3 cm, weight 67±8.1 kg) with three cardiac views (axial, short-axis, and four-chamber).
The tailored pulse train with n=3 was compared with an 8-ms BIR-4 pulse with tanh/tan (amplitude/frequency) modulation functions, β=5 and tan(κ)=80, (e.g., as described in Staewen R. S. et al., 3-D FLASH imaging using a single surface coil and a new adiabatic pulse, BIR-4, Invest Radiol 1990; 25:559-56, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference), and conventional pulse train using a saturation-no-recovery (SR) experiment, as previously described, see, e.g., Kim D., et al., B(0) and B(1)-insensitive uniform T(1)-weighting for quantitative, first-pass myocardial perfusion magnetic resonance imaging, Magn. Reson. Med. 54:1423-1429 (2005); and Kim D., et al., Comparison of the effectiveness of saturation pulses in the heart at 3 T, Magn. Reson. Med., 59:209-215 (2008). Identical transmit gain and shim values were maintained during the comparison. A 2DFT fast gradient echo (FGRE) acquisition with a center-out k-space trajectory was used with a 10° flip angle. Proton-density (PD) weighted images with a 3° flip angle were also acquired in the same breath-hold for normalization. The pulse sequence was cardiac-gated and there was one heartbeat between SR and PD acquisition to allow full recovery of magnetization, resulting in a single breath-hold of 5 heartbeats (2 for SR images, 1 for recovery, and 2 for PD images). Each saturation pulse (BIR-4, pulse train, and tailored pulse train) was employed in the FGRE pulse sequence, and acquired in a separate breath-hold. Imaging parameters were: FOV=30 cm; TE=1.2 msec; TR=3.4 msec, acquisition matrix=64×64; in-plane resolution=4.7 mm; slice thickness=5 mm; image acquisition time=109 msec; and bandwidth±125 kHz.
For image analysis, the SR images were normalized by the PD images (SR/PD) to remove the effect of receive coil sensitivity and other system imperfections, and then multiplied by sin 3°/sin 10° to compensate for the excitation angle difference. The resulting images show |Mz/M0| and have a range from 0 (complete saturation) to 1 (no saturation). LV and right ventricle (RV) were manually defined based on the PD images. The maximum and average |Mz/M0| over the LV and LV+RV were computed, and report mean±SD. All image analysis and numerical simulations were performed in MATLAB, version 7.0 (The Mathworks, Inc., Natick, Mass.). Other suitable software may of course be used to obtain desired analysis and simulation.
With continued reference to
Embodiments of tailored RF pulse trains were implemented both in simulation and in vivo and were shown to increase immunity to B0 and B1 variation. It was demonstrated (e.g., as shown in
The total number of subpulses were confined to three in exemplary embodiments validated, because three subpulses were the minimum number that was predicted to produce saturation performance superior to both the conventional pulse train and BIR-4. Of course, more or fewer pulses can be utilized. Tailored pulse trains with more than three subpulses may improve the saturation performance (max |Mz/M0| and mean |Mz/M0|) with a small increment in RF power and pulse duration, as shown in Table 1 of
Paramagnetic contrast agents during the first pass, and stents, sternal wire, and other metal implants can potentially create additional B0 inhomogeneity due to increased susceptibility effects, widening the B0-B1 ROI. Embodiments of the present disclosure include tailored pulse trains including RF pulses with different bandwidths, e.g., that may have an effective B0 bandwidth of ±390 Hz, etc. Therefore, the additional off-resonance caused by the contrast agents is not expected to degrade the saturation performance of embodiments having tailored pulse trains with hard pulses. The saturation performance of the BIR-4 pulse embodiments, due to more limited bandwidth, can be impacted. The effective bandwidth in the tailored hard-pulse train embodiments can be increased by either lowering the maximum αi constraint in the cost function or increasing the peak B1 amplitude in the pulse design.
First-pass contrast agents also cause a reduction in T1 relaxation time, and longitudinal recovery during saturation may affect pulse performance, e.g., as depicted in
A histogram of can be created in B0-B1 space, e.g., a composite 2D histogram, as described at 1004. As described at 1006, a region of interest (ROI) can be defined, e.g., one that contains all or nearly all of the B0 and B1 values representative of myocardial (or other tissue) values from some (including an individual alone) or all subjects and some or all imaging slices. The ROI can be used for subsequent pulse train optimization.
Continuing with the description of method 1000 of
The tailored pulse trains so designed can be applied to target tissue, e.g., a LV, as described at 1010. As a result, maximum residual longitudinal magnetization can be minimized for MRI of the target tissue, as described at 1012. BIR-4 amplitude and frequency modulation parameters are described in Staewen R. S., et al., 3-D FLASH imaging using a single surface coil and a new adiabatic pulse, BIR-4. Invest. Radiol., 25:559-567 (1990), the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure can provide for the design and utilization of tailored RF pulse trains, which can overcome or mitigate SAR and/or B1 inhomogeneity constraints for MRI. Exemplary embodiments of the tailored pulse trains are optimized to minimize residual longitudinal magnetization and can include hard pulses with unequal weighting (or different combinations of flip angles). Other embodiments can include BIR-4 pulse trains/waveforms. The tailored pulse-train design can improve the immunity to B1 variation, while maintaining low RF power. Embodiments of the present disclosure can facilitate accurate T1 weighting. Embodiments of the use of tailored pulse trains have been described and experimentally validated that optimally saturate myocardium at 3 T, based on measurements of typical B0 and B1 field variation. Weighted hard pulse trains according to the present disclosure are simple to design, require substantially lower RF power compared with BIR-4 pulses, and show higher B1 insensitivity compared with conventional hard pulse trains. Furthermore, the proposed saturation pulse demonstrated lower peak and average residual Mz/M0 over the heart at 3 T, compared with a standard 8-msec BIR-4 pulse and a conventional hard pulse train (P≦0.05). Tailored pulse trains may therefore have an important beneficial role in quantitative first-pass myocardial perfusion imaging, e.g., at 3 T or other field strengths.
Examples of applications of embodiments of the present disclosure can include, but are not limited to, first-pass myocardial perfusion imaging, saturation recovery based B1 mapping, saturation recovery based T1 mapping, fat saturation, and T1-weighted abdominal imaging. In application and for different MRI scanner configurations, e.g., 1.5 T scanners v. 3 T scanners, the optimum combination of flip angles can be different, since possible B0 and B1 field inhomogeneities can be different for different applications and setups. Accordingly, the values of Table 1 (
The components, steps, features, benefits and advantages that have been discussed are merely illustrative. None of them, nor the discussions relating to them, are intended to limit the scope of protection in any way. Numerous other embodiments are also contemplated. These include embodiments that have fewer, additional, and/or different components, steps, features, objects, benefits and advantages. These also include embodiments in which the components and/or steps are arranged and/or ordered differently.
In reading the present disclosure, one skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combinations of such, and over one or more networks. Suitable software can include computer-readable or machine-readable instructions for performing methods and techniques (and portions thereof) of designing and/or controlling the implementation of tailored RF pulse trains. Any suitable software language (machine-dependent or machine-independent) may be utilized. Moreover, embodiments of the present disclosure can be included in or carried by various signals, e.g., as transmitted over a wireless RF or IR communications link or downloaded from the Internet.
Unless otherwise stated, all measurements, values, ratings, positions, magnitudes, sizes, and other specifications that are set forth in this specification, including in the claims that follow, are approximate, not exact. They are intended to have a reasonable range that is consistent with the functions to which they relate and with what is customary in the art to which they pertain.
All articles, patents, patent applications, and other publications which have been cited in this disclosure are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The phrase “means for” when used in a claim is intended to and should be interpreted to embrace the corresponding structures and materials that have been described and their equivalents. Similarly, the phrase “step for” when used in a claim embraces the corresponding acts that have been described and their equivalents. The absence of these phrases means that the claim is not intended to and should not be interpreted to be limited to any of the corresponding structures, materials, or acts or to their equivalents.
Nothing that has been stated or illustrated is intended or should be interpreted to cause a dedication of any component, step, feature, object, benefit, advantage, or equivalent to the public, regardless of whether it is recited in the claims.
The scope of protection is limited solely by the claims that now follow. That scope is intended and should be interpreted to be as broad as is consistent with the ordinary meaning of the language that is used in the claims when interpreted in light of this specification and the prosecution history that follows and to encompass all structural and functional equivalents.
This application is based upon and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/145,527, entitled “Design of Radiofrequency Pulses for Uniform Saturation in NMR Experiments,” filed 14 Nov. 2008, client reference no. 09-164, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
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