Patent ID: 9297874
Filing Date: 2016-03-29
CPC Classification: A61B,G01R

Claim Text:
1. A method for non-invasively measuring cardiac output of a patient, the method comprising the steps of: providing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit of a size which is significantly smaller than the size of a full-body MRI unit, said MRI unit comprises a pair of opposed magnet assemblies generating a magnetic field across an air gap there between, said air gap is dimensioned to receive a human arm; placing said MRI unit at a height suitable to receive an arm of a human subject in a sitting or a supine position, and positioning said patient in a sitting or in a supine position respectively; placing an arm of said patient in said air gap; providing an array of RF coils around said patient's arm, said array of RF coils is configured to pulse and detect electromagnetic signals; pulsing said RF coils and detecting signals produced thereby at selected time intervals over one or more heartbeat cycles of said patient; collecting data regarding the radial and the ulnar arteries in said patient's arm; analyzing said data to determine the flow rate of blood through said radial and ulnar arteries at said selected time intervals; creating cross-sectional view images of said radial and ulnar arteries and determining cross-sectional areas of the radial and ulnar arteries at said selected time intervals; calculating the volume of blood flowing through the radial and ulnar arteries per heartbeat or per time unit; and calculating the total cardiac output of said patient by using known values of the percentage of cardiac output passing through the radial and ulnar arteries.