Patent Document ID: 9747702
Application ID: 14865108
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for evaluating metastases risk for anatomy in a patient, comprising: operating a magnetic resonance (MR) scanner, while a patient is situated therein, to acquire an overview image dataset, with an overview resolution, from only a limited body region of the patient that comprises less than an entirety of the patient, said overview image dataset representing a tumor in said limited body region and an anatomical structure, separate from said tumor in said body region, that is at risk of metastization by said tumor; providing said overview image dataset to a computer and, in said computer, determining position information from said overview image dataset that designates a relative position of said anatomical structure with respect to said tumor; in said computer, determining an operating sequence for said MR scanner, in which operating sequence an acquisition window is set dependent on said position information in order to obtain a high-resolution image dataset of said anatomical structure, said high-resolution image dataset being at a higher resolution than said overview resolution; operating said MR scanner to execute said operating sequence in order to obtain said high-resolution image dataset of said anatomical structure, said high-resolution magnetic resonance image dataset being comprised of a plurality of pixels, with said high-resolution magnetic resonance image dataset having a high-resolution of at least one pixel per millimeter of said anatomical structure in said limited body region; providing said high-resolution image dataset of said anatomical structure to said computer and, in said computer, calculating a correlation parameter, from said high-resolution image dataset and said position information, that designates a probability that said anatomical structure has metastasized due to said tumor; and in said computer, generating an electrical signal that represents the calculated correlation parameter, and making the electrical signal available as an output from said computer.