Patent Document ID: 4720679
Application ID: 06815381
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method of generating both a water image and a lipid image with a single magnetic resonance scan, the method comprising: exciting magnetic resonance in water and lipid dipoles of an image region such that magnetic resonance signal components are generated thereby; inverting spin magnetization of the resonating dipoles to cause a magnetic resonance echo, the inversion being timed such that water and lipid spin magnetizations are n.pi..+-.90.degree. out of phase during the echo, when n is an integer; collecting magnetic resonance signal components adjacent the echo, whereby the n.pi..+-.90.degree. out of phase spin magnetizations corresponding to water and lipid are independent; transforming the collected echo magnetic resonance signal components into a set of pixel values; dividing the pixel values between a real image and an imaginary image, one of which is the water image and the other of which is the lipid image, whereby collecting data with the n.pi..+-.90.degree. out of phase spin magnetizations enables independent water and lipid images to be collected concurrently during a single scan.