Patent ID: 8680859

Claim:
A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising: a central processing unit configured to transmit information about a pulse sequence to emphasize arterial blood relative to at least one of venous blood and a muscle, wherein the pulse sequence divides a ky-kz plane into a plurality of segments, the plurality of segments including data located therein, wherein the pulse sequence includes a selective inversion pulse (SIR) and a data acquisition sequence (DAQ)) after a predetermined inversion time of the SIR, the inversion time set to a time for a longitudinal magnetization of the venous blood to reach a null point, wherein the ky-kz plane is divided into a plurality of center-in regions and a plurality of center-out regions by a plurality of lines extending radially from a center of the ky-kz plane, wherein the plurality of center-in regions have data located therein in accordance with respective first trajectories that proceed toward the center of the ky-kz plane, wherein the plurality of center-out regions have data located therein in accordance with respective second trajectories that proceed away from the center of the ky-kz plane, wherein each of the plurality of segments includes one of the plurality of center-in regions and a corresponding one of the plurality of center-out regions, wherein each of the plurality of segments is defined such that after data have been located in the center-in region in accordance with the first trajectory, data are located in the center-out region in accordance with the second trajectory, wherein at least one of the plurality of segments is defined such that an angle of the center-in region at the center of the ky-kz plane is wider than an angle of the center-out region at the center of the ky-kz plane, and wherein a difference between a longitudinal magnetization value of the arterial blood and a longitudinal magnetization value of the muscle is at least 0.3 at the center of the ky-kz plane.