US5603322A
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Time course MRI imaging of brain functions
Assignee: Medical College of Wisconsin Research Foundation Inc
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Filing: 1994-12-27
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Granted: 1997-02-18
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Expires: 2014-12-27
Abstract
Abstract An EPI pulse sequence is performed by an NMR system which acquires 128 images of the brain over a time interval during which the subject performs a function or is stimulated. The acquired time course NMR data is displayed in different ways for analysis. Four different methods for producing brain function images from the NMR data are described.
Inventors
- 👤 Andrzej Jesmanowicz
- 👤 Peter A. Bandettini
- 👤 James S. Hyde
- 👤 Eric C. Wong
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 14:39
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01R; G01R33/00; G01R33/20; G01R33/44; G01R33/48; G01R33/4806; G01R33/54; G01R33/56; G01R33/561; G01R33/5615; G01R33/5616
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
159 words
A method for producing an NMR brain function image, the steps comprising: acquiring a series of NMR image data arrays over a period of time during which the subject's brain is caused to function in a preselected temporal pattern to form a time course NMR image data set, the time course NMR image data set forming a set of time domain voxel vectors in which each time domain voxel vector indicates the NMR signal from a different region of the brain during said period of time; establishing a reference time domain voxel vector which is representative of the NMR data produced by an active region of the brain during the acquisition of the time course NMR image data set; producing a correlation image by calculating the dot product of the reference time domain voxel vector with respective time domain voxel vectors in the time course NMR image data set; and displaying the correlation image as a brain function image.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
159 words
A method for producing an NMR brain function image, the steps comprising: acquiring a series of NMR image data arrays over a period of time during which the subject's brain is caused to function in a preselected temporal pattern to form a time course NMR image data set, the time course NMR image data set forming a set of time domain voxel vectors in which each time domain voxel vector indicates the NMR signal from a different region of the brain during said period of time; establishing a reference time domain voxel vector which is representative of the NMR data produced by an active region of the brain during the acquisition of the time course NMR image data set; producing a correlation image by calculating the dot product of the reference time domain voxel vector with respective time domain voxel vectors in the time course NMR image data set; and displaying the correlation image as a brain function image.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method as recited in claim 1 in which the reference time domain voxel vector is established by selecting a time domain voxel vector from the time course NMR image data set.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method as recited in claim 1 in which the time course NMR image data set is acquired by performing a series of echo planar imaging pulse sequences on an NMR system.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method as recited in claim 1 in which the brain is caused to function in said preselected temporal pattern by repetitively applying a stimulus to the subject at a relatively constant rate.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method as recited in claim 1 in which the brain is caused to function in said preselected temporal pattern by causing the subject to repetitively perform a task at a relatively constant rate.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method as recited in claim 1 in which the brain function image is displayed by superimposing it on an anatomical image of the brain produced from data in the time course NMR image data set.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method as recited in claim 1 which includes filtering the time course NMR image data set prior to producing the correlation image.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
94 words
The method as recited in claim 7 in which said filtering includes the steps of: normalizing each time domain voxel vector in a copy of the time course NMR image data set; calculating the dot product of the reference time domain voxel vector with respective normalized time domain voxel vectors; producing a mask array by setting elements therein to values determined by the value of the dot product of corresponding normalized time domain voxel vectors; and applying the mask array to the time course NMR image data set prior to producing the correlation image.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
195 words
A method for producing an NMR image, the steps comprising: acquiring a series of NMR image data arrays over a period of time during which the subject is caused to function in a preselected temporal pattern to form a time course NMR image data set, the time course NMR image data set forming a set of time domain voxel vectors in which each time domain voxel vector indicates the NMR signal from a different region of the subject during said period of time; reconstructing an anatomical image of the subject from acquired NMR data; establishing a reference time domain voxel vector which is representative of the NMR data produced by a region of the subject during the acquisition of the time course NMR image data set; producing a mask by calculating the dot product of the reference time domain voxel vector with respective time domain voxel vectors in the time course NMR image data set and comparing each dot product with a threshold value; and combining the mask with the anatomical image of the subject to display regions of the subject which correspond with the regions in which the dot product exceeds the threshold value.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
195 words
A method for producing an NMR image, the steps comprising: acquiring a series of NMR image data arrays over a period of time during which the subject is caused to function in a preselected temporal pattern to form a time course NMR image data set, the time course NMR image data set forming a set of time domain voxel vectors in which each time domain voxel vector indicates the NMR signal from a different region of the subject during said period of time; reconstructing an anatomical image of the subject from acquired NMR data; establishing a reference time domain voxel vector which is representative of the NMR data produced by a region of the subject during the acquisition of the time course NMR image data set; producing a mask by calculating the dot product of the reference time domain voxel vector with respective time domain voxel vectors in the time course NMR image data set and comparing each dot product with a threshold value; and combining the mask with the anatomical image of the subject to display regions of the subject which correspond with the regions in which the dot product exceeds the threshold value.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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