Patent ID: 6094591
Filing Date: 2000-07-25
Classification: A61B,G01R

Abstract:
A method for measuring coronary flow reserve, the steps comprising: a) calculating the percentage of oxygenated blood (% O.sub.2) flowing through a coronary vein in a subject by measuring the T.sub.2 time constant thereof using an MR imaging system which repeatedly executes a pulse sequence comprised of a T.sub.2 preparatory segment and an image data acquisition segment;b) calculating the oxygen consumption of the myocardium in the subject;c) measuring the percentage of oxygenated hemoglobin in blood (% O.sub.2) flowing through an artery in the subject;d) calculating basal coronary flow (Q.sub.BASAL) using the values obtained in the steps a), b) and c);e) applying a stress to the subject to produce a high coronary blood flow;f) repeating step a) to produce a value indicating the percentage of oxygenated blood (% O.sub.2) flowing through said coronary vein;g) calculating the oxygen consumption of the myocardium in the subject;h) calculating the peak coronary flow (Q.sub.PEAK) using the values obtained in steps c), f) and g); andi) calculating the coronary flow reserve of the subject using the values of Q.sub.BASAL and Q.sub.PEAK.