Inversion recovery MRI

US5588431A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University · US

Inventors

• Sanjay Mani · Palo Alto, US
• Dwight G. Nishimura · Palo Alto, US
• Steven M. Conolly · Walnut Creek, US
• John M. Pauly · Stanford, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 17, 1995
• Grant date: Dec 31, 1996
• Expiry date: Aug 17, 2015

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01R33/5602
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Multiple inversion recovery flow imaging employs at least four spin inversion pulses following saturation of static nuclei spins to null nuclei in static material having different spin-lattice relaxation times (T.sub.1) with the inversion pulses being spaced in time to substantially reduce the longitudinal magnetization of the T.sub.1 species present. The saturation of static nuclei spins includes applying a sequence of saturation pulses with adjacent pulses being separated by a diphasing gradient to avoid refocusing coherence. The detection of signals includes applying at least one RF read-out pulse near the nulling point.