Patent ID: 9538936
Date: 2017-01-10
CPC Classifications: A61B,G01R

Claim:
1. A magnetic resonance (MR) imaging apparatus comprising: MRI system components including at least one radio frequency (RF) coil coupled to a patient imaging volume within static and gradient magnetic field generators, an RF transmitter and an RF receiver coupled to said at least one RF coil, and at least one computer; wherein said at least one computer is configured to: control said components to acquire from a patient (a) using a white blood method, first MR data based on first MR spin echo signals occurring at first echo times in response to a prior radio frequency (RF) excitation in which patient blood has higher intensity than background tissues and (b) using a black blood method, second MR data based on second MR spin echo signals occurring at later second echo times in response to the same said RF excitation in which the patient blood has lower intensity than the background tissues, with regard to images of the same region of the same patient; and generate, on the basis of the first MR data and the second MR data, third MR image data in which the contrast of the patient blood with respect to the background tissues is higher than in the first and second MR data, wherein signal values included in at least one of the first and second MR data are differently weighted, and then the third MR image data is generated based on the first and second MR data after said weighting, and wherein pixel values are weighted (a) in only one of the first and second MR data with a weighting function having a predetermined characteristic as a function of frequency, or (b) in both of the first and second MR data with respectively different weighting functions having respectively different predetermined characteristics as a function of frequency.