Patent ID: 8229544

Claim:
A method for detecting temperature and protein denaturation of a tissue, said method comprising: generating a plurality of MR pulse sequences, including a first group of pulse sequences lacking MT pulses and a second group of pulse sequences having MT pulses, wherein the first and second groups of pulse sequences are interleaved; delivering the plurality of MR pulse sequences to the tissue; receiving a plurality of response signals, including a first group of response signals in response to the first group of pulse sequences, and a second group of response signals in response to the second group of pulse sequences; determining a first information associated with a degree of protein denaturation of the tissue based on the first and second groups of response signals to thereby detect protein denaturation of the tissue; and determining a second information associated with a change in temperature of the tissue based on at least some of the plurality of response signals to thereby detect temperature of the tissue, wherein the first information and the second information are determined simultaneously.