METHOD AND APPARATUS TO ACQUIRE MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGES IN A SESSION, WITH ACQUISITION OF A CONSISTENTLY VALID REFERENCE SCAN

摘要

In a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging method and apparatus, multiple diagnostic scans are obtained of an examination subject during an imaging session. An initial reference scan of the subject is obtained at the beginning of the session and, as the session proceeds, an automatic determination is made before each diagnostic scan is obtained as to whether the immediately preceding reference scan is still valid, primarily be checking whether an amount of patient movement has occurred that renders the immediately preceding reference scan invalid. Either a new reference scan is obtained before the next diagnostic scan, or, if still valid, the immediately preceding reference scan is used for the next diagnostic scan.

主权项

1. A method for operating a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, comprising:
from a control unit, operating a magnetic resonance data acquisition unit in a scan session, in which multiple scans of an examination subject situated in the magnetic resonance data acquisition unit will be successively obtained; before obtaining a first scan of said subject in said scan session, operating said magnetic resonance data acquisition unit from said control unit to obtain a reference scan of the examination subject; using said reference scan to insure that predetermined conditions for conducting said first scan in said session are satisfied and, if so, operating said magnetic resonance data acquisition unit from said control unit to conduct and complete said first scan in said session; before conducting each subsequent scan in said scan session, automatically ascertaining, in said control unit, that a currently valid reference scan of said subject exists; for each of said subsequent scans in said scan session, using said currently valid reference scan to ascertain, in said control unit, that predetermined respective conditions for conducting each of said subsequent scans in said session are satisfied; and when said predetermined conditions for each of said subsequent scans is ascertained in said control unit to be satisfied by using said currently valid reference scan, operating said magnetic resonance data acquisition unit from said control unit to conduct and complete each of said subsequent scans in said scan session.