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Module 3

This document provides an overview of the key steps involved in magnetic resonance image formation: 1) Nuclei such as hydrogen-1 atoms in the subject's body are aligned in a strong magnetic field and excited with a radiofrequency pulse to produce a measurable signal as they relax back to equilibrium. 2) Magnetic field gradients are applied to encode spatial information into the measured signal in the frequency domain (k-space). 3) The k-space data is acquired and an inverse Fourier transform reconstructs the signal into pixels in a 2D image slice, with the number of k-space measurements determining the image resolution. 4) Magnitude images are typically used, created by taking the square root of

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26 views13 pages

Module 3

This document provides an overview of the key steps involved in magnetic resonance image formation: 1) Nuclei such as hydrogen-1 atoms in the subject's body are aligned in a strong magnetic field and excited with a radiofrequency pulse to produce a measurable signal as they relax back to equilibrium. 2) Magnetic field gradients are applied to encode spatial information into the measured signal in the frequency domain (k-space). 3) The k-space data is acquired and an inverse Fourier transform reconstructs the signal into pixels in a 2D image slice, with the number of k-space measurements determining the image resolution. 4) Magnitude images are typically used, created by taking the square root of

Uploaded by

augustus1189
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Module 3: Image Formation

Signal Formation
! The subject is placed into the MR scanner.
! Nuclei of 1H atoms align with the magnetic field. ! The nuclei precess about the field at similar frequencies, but at a random phase. ! Net longitudinal magnetization in the direction of field.

! Within a slice, a radio frequency (RF) pulse is used


to align the phase and tip over the nuclei.
! Causes the longitudinal magnetization to decrease, and establishes a new transversal magnetization.

Signal Formation
! After the RF pulse is removed, the system seeks to return to equilibrium.
! The transverse magnetization disappears (transversal relaxation), and the longitudinal magnetization grows back to its original size (longitudinal relaxation). ! Longitudinal relaxation: exponential growth described by time constant T1. ! Transverse relaxation: exponential decay described by time constant T2.

! During this process a signal is created that can be measured using a receiver coil.

Slice Selection
! Most structural MRI and fMRI scans involve the construction of a three dimensional image from a set of two-dimensional slices.

Image Formation
! Imagine a brain slice split into a number of equally sized volume elements or voxels.

!(x,y)

Image Formation
! Imagine a brain slice split into a number of equally sized volume elements or voxels.

!(x,y)

Gradients
! The measured signal combines information from the whole brain:

S (t ) =

!! " ( x, y)dxdy

! A magnetic field gradient is used to sequentially control the spatial inhomogeneity of the magnetic field, so each measurement can be expressed:

S (k x , k y ) =

!! $ ( x, y)e

"i 2# ( k x x + k y y )

dxdy

K-space
! The measurements are acquired in the frequency-domain (k-space). ! By making measurements for multiple values of (kx, ky) we can gain enough information to solve the inverse problem and reconstruct !(x, y). ! We can use the inverse Fourier transform (IFT):

# ( x, y) = !! S (k x , k y )e

i 2" ( k x x + k y y )

dk x dk y

K-space Measurements
! In practice, data measurements are made discretely over a finite region.
! Use discrete Fourier transforms.

! The number of k-space measurements we make influences the spatial resolution of the image.
! Need enough measurements to solve inverse problem.

16 unknowns

4 unknowns

EPI and Spirals


ky

ky

kx

kx

Magnitude Images
! The measured k-space data is complex valued. ! We typically work with magnitude images, or
! ( x ) = ! R ( x )2 + ! I ( x )2

where !R and !I are the real and imaginary parts of the k-space measurement.

Image Formation
k-space ky kx IFT FT Image space y x

End of Module

@fMRIstats

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