Water-fat imaging with direct phase encoding (DPE)
US6091243A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 13, 1998 |
| Grant date | Jul 18, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 13, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01R33/4828
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method acquires three complex images, wherein their respective phase differences between water and fat components are .alpha..sub.0, .alpha..sub.0 +.alpha., and .alpha..sub.0 +2.alpha., respectively. The method obtains from these three complex images two possible solution sets for water and fat images. For pixels with both water and fat components, one correct solution set is selected using a binary choice based on the relative Larmor frequencies of water and fat. If a pixel contains only one component, a known statistical bias is applied to identify the component and, thus, the pixel. To correct misidentified pixels, various filters may be applied to all the pixels. The water and fat solutions obtained from the three complex images are used to produce separate images of water and fat. Second pass solutions of water and fat with improved signal-to-noise ratio can be obtained by either averaging or a least square error method.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.