Patent Document ID: 20160334487
Application ID: 15133907
Patent Status: 0

Claim One:
1. A method for improving intensity homogeneity of image data acquired using a balanced steady-state free precision (bSSFP) sequence in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, the method comprising: performing multiple bSSFP sequences with different radio frequency (RF) phase increments by using a MR imaging apparatus, to generate multiple bSSFP image volumes with different phase offset φ of an object to be examined, each image volume containing voxels having intensities M that are a function of a nuclear resonance signal, and wherein a position and a size of the voxel is defined by a field of view (FOV) and a desired resolution; a per-voxel fitting of a mathematical signal model onto a measured magnetization M of the FOV as a function of the phase offset φ; determining from the fit a spin density M 0 , a relaxation time ratio Λ and a local phase offset Δφ for each voxel; generating a homogeneous image of the object by calculating a new signal intensity M(φ) for each voxel, using the previously obtained spin density M 0 and the relaxation time ratio Λ, and choosing Δφ so that φ−Δφ=0°, in order to obtain the homogeneous image of the object.