Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with dual agent characterization

摘要

Example apparatus and methods concern determining whether a target material appears in a region experiencing nuclear magnetic resonance. One method acquires a baseline value for a magnetic resonance parameter (MRP) while the region is not exposed to a molecular imaging agent that affects the MRP, acquiring a non-specific uptake value for the MRP while the sample is influenced by a non-specific molecular imaging agent and acquiring a specific uptake value for the MRP while the sample is influenced by a specific molecular imaging agent. The non-specific masking problem is solved by characterizing the region as a function of the baseline value, the non-specific uptake value, and the specific uptake value. The function relies on the similarities and differences between non-specific uptake of the non-specific molecular imaging agent, non-specific uptake of the specific molecular imaging agent, and specific uptake of the specific molecular imaging agent.

主权项

1. A method, comprising:
acquiring a baseline value for a magnetic resonance (MR) parameter from a region in a sample while the sample is not exposed to a molecular imaging agent that affects the MR parameter in the sample; acquiring a non-specific uptake value for the MR parameter while the sample is influenced by a non-specific molecular imaging agent that does not recognize a target material and where the non-specific molecular imaging agent may affect the MR parameter due to non-specific uptake of the non-specific molecular imaging agent; acquiring a specific uptake value for the MR parameter while the sample is influenced by a specific molecular imaging agent that does recognize the target material and where the specific molecular imaging agent may affect the MR parameter due to non-specific uptake of the specific molecular imaging agent and due to specific uptake of the specific molecular imaging agent, and characterizing the region as a function of the baseline value, the non-specific uptake value, and the specific uptake value, where the baseline value, the non-specific uptake value, and the specific uptake value are a function of magnetic resonance experienced in the sample as excited by an NMR apparatus, where non-specific uptake of the non-specific molecular imaging agent in an area that does not include the target material and non-specific uptake of the specific molecular imaging agent in an area that does not include target material do not produce a measurably different effect on the MR parameter, where specific uptake of the specific molecular imaging agent in an area that includes the target material and non-specific uptake of the non-specific molecular imaging agent in an area that does include the target material produce a measurably different effect on the MR parameter in the region, and where specific uptake of the specific molecular imaging agent in an area that includes the target material and non-specific uptake of the specific molecular imaging agent in an area that does not include the target material produce a measurably different effect on the MR parameter in the region.