Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus

Claim 2

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising: acquisition means for acquiring first and second different magnetic resonance signals from the same position of an object under examination; first image reconstruction means for reconstructing high-resolution image data from the first magnetic resonance signals; second image reconstruction means for reconstructing low-resolution image data from the second magnetic resonance signals; display/non-display region decision means for making display/non-display region decisions for the low-resolution image data by referring to the high-resolution image data, wherein said display/non-display region decision means sets a threshold value to the high-resolution image data and outputs regions where the high-resolution image data is greater than the threshold value as display regions where the low-resolution image data is to be displayed; and display means responsive to said display/non-display region decision means for displaying low-resolution image data present in regions output as display regions by said display/non-display region decision means.

Claim 3

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 1, in which said first image reconstruction means reconstructs proton image data as the high-resolution image data, and said second image reconstruction means reconstructs specific chemical shift image data as the low-resolution image data.

Claim 4

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 1, in which said display means displays low-resolution image data present in regions output as display regions by said decision means and the high-resolution image data in a position differing from the display position of the low-resolution image data.

Claim 5

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 1, in which said display means displays low-resolution image data present in regions output as display regions by said display/non-display region decision means and the high-resolution image data in different colors while superimposing them upon each other.

Claim 6

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 1, in which said display means displays the low-resolution image data in pseudo colors varying with signal strength.

Claim 7

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising correction means for correcting the signal strength of the low-resolution image data for each of predetermined blocks according to the proportion of the signal existing area in a corresponding one of blocks of the high-resolution image data to the entire block.

Claim 8

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising: acquisition means for acquiring first and second different magnetic resonance signals from the same position of an object under examination; first image reconstruction means for reconstructing high-resolution image data from the first magnetic resonance signals, the high-resolution image data being formed into a matrix with a predetermined number of elements; second image reconstruction means for reconstructing low-resolution image data from the second magnetic resonance signals, the low-resolution image data being formed into a matrix which is smaller in the number of elements than said matrix for the high-resolution image data; matrix element number changing means for changing the number of elements of said matrix for the low-resolution image data reconstructed by said second image reconstruction means so that the low-resolution image about the size of the high resolution image is output; display/non-display region decision means for making display/non-display region decisions for the low-resolution image data by referring to the high-resolution image data, and wherein said display/non-display region decision means sets a threshold value to the high-resolution image data and outputs regions where the high-resolution image data is greater than the threshold value as display regions where the low-resolution image data is to be displayed; and display means responsive to said display/non-display region decision means for displaying low-resolution image data present in regions output as display regions by said display/non-display region decision means.

Claim 9

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising: acquisition means for acquiring first and second different magnetic resonance signals from the same position of an object under examination; first image reconstruction means for reconstructing high-resolution image data from the first magnetic resonance signals, the high-resolution image data being formed into a matrix with a predetermined number of elements; second image reconstruction means for reconstructing low-resolution image data from the second magnetic resonance signals, the low-resolution image data being formed into a matrix which is smaller in the number of elements than said matrix for the high-resolution image data; matrix element number changing means for changing the number of elements of said matrix for the low-resolution image data reconstructed by said second image reconstruction means so that the low-resolution image about the size of the high resolution image is output; display/non-display region decision means for making display/non-display region decisions for the low-resolution image data by referring to the high-resolution image data, and wherein said display/non-display region decision means sets a threshold value to the high-resolution image data and outputs regions where the high-resolution image data is greater than the threshold value as display regions where the low-resolution image data is to be displayed; and display means responsive to said display/non-display region decision means for displaying low-resolution image data present in regions output as display regions by said display/non-display region decision means.

Claim 10

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 7, in which said matrix element number changing means performs an interpolation process on the low-resolution image data to thereby change the number of elements of said matrix for the low-resolution image data.

Claim 11

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising: acquisition means for acquiring first and second different magnetic resonance signals from the same position of an object under examination. first image reconstruction means for reconstructing high-resolution image data from the first magnetic resonance signals; second image reconstruction means for reconstructing low-resolution image data from the second magnetic resonance signals; smoothing means for performing a smoothing process on the low-resolution image data reconstructed by said second image reconstruction means; display/non-display region decision means for making display/non-display region decisions for the low-resolution image data by referring to the high-resolution image data, and wherein said display/non-display region decision means sets a threshold valve to the high-resolution image data and outputs regions where the high-resolution image data is greater than the threshold value as display regions where the low-resolution image data is to be displayed; and display means responsive to said display/non-display region decision means for displaying low-resolution image data output from said smoothing means in regions output as display regions by said display/non-display region decision means.

Claim 12

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising: acquisition means for acquiring first and second different magnetic resonance signals from the same position of an object under examination. first image reconstruction means for reconstructing high-resolution image data from the first magnetic resonance signals; second image reconstruction means for reconstructing low-resolution image data from the second magnetic resonance signals; smoothing means for performing a smoothing process on the low-resolution image data reconstructed by said second image reconstruction means; display/non-display region decision means for making display/non-display region decisions for the low-resolution image data by referring to the high-resolution image data, and wherein said display/non-display region decision means sets a threshold valve to the high-resolution image data and outputs regions where the high-resolution image data is greater than the threshold value as display regions where the low-resolution image data is to be displayed; and display means responsive to said display/non-display region decision means for displaying low-resolution image data output from said smoothing means in regions output as display regions by said display/non-display region decision means.

Claim 13

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 9, in which said first image reconstruction means reconstructs the high-resolution image data on a matrix with a predetermined number of elements, said second image reconstruction means reconstructs the low-resolution image data on a matrix which is smaller in the number of elements than said matrix for the high-resolution image data, and said smoothing means performs the smoothing process on the low-resolution image data so that the low-resolution image data has substantially the same number of matrix elements as the high-resolution image data.

Claim 14

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 10, in which said smoothing means performs an interpolation process on the low-resolution image data to thereby smoothing the low-resolution image data.

Claim 15

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising: acquisition means for acquiring first and second different magnetic resonance signals from the same position of an object under examination; first image reconstruction means for reconstructing high-resolution image data from the first magnetic resonance signals; second image reconstruction means for reconstructing low-resolution image data from the second magnetic resonance signals; and display means for displaying the high-resolution image data and the low-resolution image data superimposed upon each other.

Claim 16

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising: acquisition means for acquiring first and second different magnetic resonance signals from the same position of an object under examination; first image reconstruction means for reconstructing high-resolution image data from the first magnetic resonance signals; second image reconstruction means for reconstructing low-resolution image data from the second magnetic resonance signals; and display means for displaying the high-resolution image data and the low-resolution image data superimposed upon each other.

Claim 17

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 12, in which said first image reconstruction means reconstructs proton image data as the high-resolution image data, and said second image reconstruction means reconstructs specific chemical shift image data as the low-resolution image data.

Claim 18

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 12, in which said display means displays each of the high-resolution image data and the low-resolution image data in a different color.

Claim 19

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 12, in which said display means displays the low-resolution image data in pseudo colors varying with signal strengths.

Claim 20

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising correction means for correcting the signal strength of the low-resolution image data for each of predetermined blocks according to the proportion of the signal existing area in a corresponding one of blocks of the high-resolution image data to the entire block.