Patent ID: 11933866
Assignee: RAMOT AT TEL-AVIV UNIVERSITY LTD.
Field: Pharmaceuticals (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC G  A | IPC A  G

Claim 1:
2. Apparatus for operating MRI, comprising:
an MRI Scanner having a control configured for performing an MRI scan using a 3D MRI pulse sequence;
an input for receiving first and second MRI scans of an organ of a subject respectively at the beginning and end of a predetermined time interval post contrast administration from said MRI scanner;
an image processor having a circuit configured for forming a subtraction map from said first and said second MRI scans by analyzing said scans to distinguish between two primary populations, a slow population, in which contrast clearance from the tissue is slower than contrast accumulation, and a fast population in which clearance is faster than accumulation; and
an output converting said scans to a displayed subtraction map on which distributions of said two primary populations are distinguished, wherein a distribution of said fast population corresponds to a tumoral tissue region and a distribution of said slow population corresponds to a non-tumoral tissue region;
wherein said control is configured to carry out said first scan and said second scan such that said predetermined time interval is at least twenty minutes;
wherein said image processor is configured for determining, from said subtraction map, whether tumor tissue is present, by comparing drainage of the contrast agent from blood vessels with contrast agent taken up in the tissue; and
wherein the apparatus is in use for differentiating tumor from treatment effects.