Patent ID: 8660634

Claim:
A method for producing an image indicative of ventilation in a subject using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the steps of the method comprising: a) acquiring a time series of images depicting a subject's lungs while the subject is breathing using the MRI system, each image in the time series of images having a plurality of voxels located within a field-of-view; b) registering each image in the time series of images acquired in step a) to a reference image; c) obtaining geometric information indicative of proton density changes in each voxel in the field-of-view due to inhalation and exhalation from the registration performed in step b); d) correcting proton density values in each voxel in the time series of images using the geometric information obtained in step c), the corrected proton density values being indicative of changes in proton density due to changes in gas volume in the subject's lung; e) producing a Fourier spectrum for each voxel in the field-of-view that includes a signal peak associated with a frequency of the subject's breathing rate by Fourier transforming the corrected time series of images corrected in step d); f) extracting the signal peak in each voxel that is associated with a frequency of the subject's breathing rate from the Fourier spectra produced in step e); and g) producing an image indicative of ventilation in the subject using the signal peaks extracted in step f).