Patent ID: 6614226
Filing Date: 2003-09-02
Classification: A61B,G01R

Abstract:
A method of constructing an image representative of structure within a tissue, the method comprising(a) inducing a population of spins in the tissue to produce a set of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signals, wherein the signals comprise a set of complex Fourier-encodings of a distribution of three-dimensional displacements of the spins in the population; (b) converting each of the NMR signals in the set of complex Fourier-encodings into a positive number to form a set of positive numbers to exclude phase information; (c) reconstructing from the set of positive numbers a function that approximates the distribution of three-dimensional displacements of the spins in the population in multiple directions; and (d) constructing an image that represents the function, whereby the image represents structure within the tissue.