MAGNETIC RESONANCE APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR RF EXCITATION WITH TWO RESONANCE FREQUENCIES TO DETECT THE CEST EFFECT

摘要

In a magnetic resonance apparatus and method for RF excitation with two resonance frequencies to detect the CEST effect, the RF excitation is achieved with the use of a first RF antenna and a second RF antenna of the magnetic resonance apparatus with a first portion of the RF excitation at a first resonance frequency of the two resonance frequencies being implemented with the first RF antenna, and a second portion of the RF excitation at a second resonance frequency of the two resonance frequencies is implemented with the second RF antenna.

主权项

1. A method for generating magnetic resonance (MR) data from which the chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) effect is quantified, comprising:
operating an MR data acquisition unit comprising a first radio-frequency (RF) antenna and a second RF antenna to produce an excitation of nuclear spins in an examination subject situated in the MR data acquisition unit, by producing a first portion of said excitation by operating said first RF antenna to radiate at a first frequency and by producing a second portion of said excitation by operating said second RF antenna to radiate at a second frequency, said excitation of said nuclear spins saturating resonance signals of protons that are bound to molecules of a material to be detected by the CEST effect; operating the MR data acquisition unit to acquire MR data resulting from said excitation at both of said first and second frequencies; repeatedly entering said MR data into an electronic memory organized as k-space, in a same k-space segment for both of said first and second frequencies, said k-space segment representing spectral information; and in a processor, operating on said spectral information to quantify protons that have migrated to water molecules from the molecules of the material to be detected by chemical exchange, and emitting an electronic signal from said processor representing a quantification of the CEST effect for said material to be detected.