Local temperature rise constrained radio frequency pulse design in parallel transmission

US10545210B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignees

• Regents of the University of Minnesota · US
• COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES · FR

Inventors

• Nicolas Boulant · Niort, FR
• Pierre-Francois Van de Moortele · Minneapolis, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 22, 2015
• Grant date: Jan 28, 2020
• Expiry date: Jun 3, 2036

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01R33/543
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Systems and methods for designing RF pulses using a technique that directly controls temperature rise via a compression model that is based on virtual observation points (“VOPs”) are provided. Thermal pre-simulations are first carried out for a given RF exposure time, coil, and subject model in order to obtain complex temperature matrices, after which the compression scheme follows. As one example, the thermal model employed can be Pennes' bio-heat equation. Focusing design constraints on the temperature rise instead of the absolute temperature allows for uncertain parameters to be dropped from the thermal model, making it more robust and less prone to errors. In some embodiments, the algorithm used for RF pulse design is the active-set (“A-S”) method.