Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim
79 words
A method of magnetic resonance spectroscopy comprising: defining a region of interest by pre-saturating regions therearound; exciting resonance in the region of interest; encoding spatial locations along at least one direction by phase encoding the excited resonance along the selected direction; collecting resonance data in the absence of a magnetic field gradient and Fourier transforming the collected data into an array of spectra, each spectrum corresponding to the resonance signal from a spatial section along the phase encode direction.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
79 words
A method of magnetic resonance spectroscopy comprising: defining a region of interest by pre-saturating regions therearound; exciting resonance in the region of interest; encoding spatial locations along at least one direction by phase encoding the excited resonance along the selected direction; collecting resonance data in the absence of a magnetic field gradient and Fourier transforming the collected data into an array of spectra, each spectrum corresponding to the resonance signal from a spatial section along the phase encode direction.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method as set forth in claim 1 further including phase encoding the resonance in at least a second direction and wherein the Fourier transforming step includes Fourier transforming the collected data into a two dimensional array of spectra.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method as set forth in claim 1 further including refocusing the excited resonance to converge into an echo and wherein the data collecting step includes collecting the resonance data during the echo.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method as set forth in claim 3 wherein the phase encoding step includes phase encoding the excited resonance along at least two dimensions such that the Fourier transforming step transforms the received echo data into a two dimensional array of spectra.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method as set forth in claim 4 wherein the refocusing step includes applying a refocusing radio frequency pulse concurrently with a slice select gradient such that the refocusing of the excited resonance is limited to a selected slice.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method as set forth in claim 4 further including applying a slice select gradient concurrently with the exciting of resonance.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method as set forth in claim 4 wherein in the resonance excitation step, magnetic resonance is excited in selected hydrogen dipoles.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method as set forth in claim 7 wherein at least one of the resonance exciting and refocusing steps includes the application of a binomial radio frequency pulse to suppress water.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method as set forth in claim 7 wherein the resonance exciting step includes the application of a radio frequency pulse of up to 90°.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method as set forth in claim 2 wherein the resonance exciting step includes exciting magnetic resonance in phosphorus dipoles.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
75 words
The method as set forth in claim 4 wherein the pre-saturating step includes concurrently applying a first radio frequency and gradient pulse combination to pre-saturate material on a first pair of opposite sides of the region of interest and applying a second radio frequency and gradient pulse combination to saturate material on a second pair of opposite sides of the region of interest, the first opposite sides being generally orthogonal to the second opposite sides.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
123 words
A method of generating a magnetic resonance spectrum corresponding to each of an at least two dimensional array of subregions of a region of interest, the method comprising: applying radio frequency and gradient pulse combinations for saturating material on four sides of the region of interest along first and second axes; concurrently applying a radio frequency pulse for exciting magnetic resonance in the region of interest and a slice select gradient for limiting the excited region along a third axis; applying phase encode gradients for phase encoding the excited resonance along at least two directions; collecting resonance data in the absence of a magnetic field gradient; multi-dimensionally Fourier transforming the collected resonance data into an at least two dimensional array of multi-frequency spectra.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
123 words
A method of generating a magnetic resonance spectrum corresponding to each of an at least two dimensional array of subregions of a region of interest, the method comprising: applying radio frequency and gradient pulse combinations for saturating material on four sides of the region of interest along first and second axes; concurrently applying a radio frequency pulse for exciting magnetic resonance in the region of interest and a slice select gradient for limiting the excited region along a third axis; applying phase encode gradients for phase encoding the excited resonance along at least two directions; collecting resonance data in the absence of a magnetic field gradient; multi-dimensionally Fourier transforming the collected resonance data into an at least two dimensional array of multi-frequency spectra.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
105 words
An apparatus for magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the apparatus comprising: means for concurrently applying combinations of radio frequency and gradient pulses for pre-saturating material around a region of interest; means for applying a radio frequency excitation pulse to excite magnetic resonance in the region of interest; means for applying a spatial position encoding gradient pulse for encoding position along a first direction; means for receiving a magnetic resonance signal in the absence of a magnetic field gradient; a Fourier transform means for Fourier transforming the received magnetic resonance signal into an array of spectra, each spectra corresponding to a different spatial location along the encoded direction.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
105 words
An apparatus for magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the apparatus comprising: means for concurrently applying combinations of radio frequency and gradient pulses for pre-saturating material around a region of interest; means for applying a radio frequency excitation pulse to excite magnetic resonance in the region of interest; means for applying a spatial position encoding gradient pulse for encoding position along a first direction; means for receiving a magnetic resonance signal in the absence of a magnetic field gradient; a Fourier transform means for Fourier transforming the received magnetic resonance signal into an array of spectra, each spectra corresponding to a different spatial location along the encoded direction.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
71 words
The apparatus as set forth in claim 13 wherein the position encoding means includes a phase encoding means for applying at least two phase encoding magnetic field gradients to encode spatial position in the resonating signals along the first direction and along a second direction and wherein the Fourier transform means includes a multi-dimensional Fourier transform means for transforming the received magnetic resonance signals into a two dimensional array of spectra.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
36 words
The apparatus as set forth in claim 13 further including means for applying a refocusing pulse for refocusing the excited magnetic resonance into an echo, the receiver means receiving the magnetic resonance signal during the echo.