Electricity: measuring and testing – Particle precession resonance – Spectrometer components
Reexamination Certificate
2003-04-16
2004-12-28
Gutierrez, Diego (Department: 2859)
Electricity: measuring and testing
Particle precession resonance
Spectrometer components
C600S410000, C600S422000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06836117
ABSTRACT:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Application No. 2002-114817 filed Apr. 17, 2002.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an RF (radio frequency) coil, RF signal transmitting/receiving apparatus, RF signal receiving apparatus, and magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, and more particularly to an RF coil, RF signal transmitting/receiving apparatus, RF signal receiving apparatus, and magnetic resonance imaging apparatus for use in magnetic resonance imaging of the lower abdomen of a human body.
In a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus, a subject to be imaged is carried into an internal space of a magnet system, i.e., an imaging space in which a static magnetic field is generated, a gradient magnetic field and a high frequency magnetic field are applied to generate a magnetic resonance signal by spins within the subject, and an image is reconstructed based on the received signal.
The high frequency magnetic field is applied as an RF pulse. The application of the RF pulse is sometimes referred to as transmission of an RF signal. The magnetic resonance signal is received as an RF signal. The RF signals are transmitted and received using an RF coil.
RF coils include one dedicated for transmission or reception, and one used both for transmission and reception. For the RF coil dedicated for reception or that used both for transmission and reception, various shapes of the RF coil are available depending upon a region to be imaged. One of such RF coils is an RF coil for imaging the prostate. This RF coil is a saddle coil having a geometry such that it sandwiches the lower abdomen of the subject from the anterior and posterior sides.
Since the prostate lies in the lowest portion of the lower abdomen, an image cannot always be obtained with a sufficiently good SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) even if such an RF coil is employed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an RF coil, RF signal transmitting/receiving apparatus, RF signal receiving apparatus, and magnetic resonance imaging apparatus that enable proper imaging of the prostate.
(1) The present invention, in accordance with one aspect thereof for solving the aforementioned problem, is an RF coil characterized in comprising: a first saddle coil having two loop portions of a geometry suited for sandwiching the lower abdomen of a human body from the anterior and posterior sides with the two loop portions facing each other; and a second saddle coil having two loop portions of a geometry suited for allowing the lower limbs of the human body to be inserted into the two loop portions, and sandwiching the lower abdomen from the right and left sides with the two loop portions facing each other.
(2) The present invention, in accordance with another aspect thereof for solving the aforementioned problem, is an RF signal transmitting/receiving apparatus characterized in comprising: a first saddle coil having two loop portions of a geometry suited for sandwiching the lower abdomen of a human body from the anterior and posterior sides with the two loop portions facing each other; a second saddle coil having two loop portions of a geometry suited for allowing the lower limbs of the human body to be inserted into the two loop portions, and sandwiching the lower abdomen from the right and left sides with the two loop portions facing each other; driving means for driving said first and second saddle coils in a quadrature scheme; and combining means for combining two RF signals respectively received by said first and second saddle coils in a quadrature scheme.
(3) The present invention, in accordance with still another aspect thereof for solving the aforementioned problem, is an RF signal receiving apparatus characterized in comprising: a first saddle coil having two loop portions of a geometry suited for sandwiching the lower abdomen of a human body from the anterior and posterior sides with the two loop portions facing each other; a second saddle coil having two loop portions of a geometry suited for allowing the lower limbs of the human body to be inserted into the two loop portions, and sandwiching the lower abdomen from the right and left sides with the two loop portions facing each other; and combining means for combining two RF signals respectively received by said first and second saddle coils in a quadrature scheme.
(4) The present invention, in accordance with still another aspect thereof for solving the aforementioned problem, is an RF signal receiving apparatus characterized in comprising: a first saddle coil having two loop portions of a geometry suited for sandwiching the lower abdomen of a human body from the anterior and posterior sides with the two loop portions facing each other; a second saddle coil having two loop portions of a geometry suited for allowing the lower limbs of the human body to be inserted into the two loop portions, and sandwiching the lower abdomen from the right and left sides with the two loop portions facing each other; and combining means for combining two RF signals respectively received by said first and second saddle coils in a phased-array scheme.
(5) The present invention, in accordance with still another aspect thereof for solving the aforementioned problem, is a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus having static magnetic field generating means for generating a static magnetic field in a space for accommodating a subject to be imaged, gradient magnetic field generating means for generating a gradient magnetic field in said space, RF signal receiving means for transmitting an RF signal to said space and receiving an RF signal from said space, and image producing means for producing an image based on said received RF signal, characterized in that: said RF signal transmitting/receiving means comprises a first saddle coil having two loop portions of a geometry suited for sandwiching the lower abdomen of a human body from the anterior and posterior sides with the two loop portions facing each other; a second saddle coil having two loop portions of a geometry suited for allowing the lower limbs of the human body to be inserted into the two loop portions, and sandwiching the lower abdomen from the right and left sides with the two loop portions facing each other; driving means for driving said first and second saddle coils in a quadrature scheme; and combining means for combining two RF signals respectively received by said first and second saddle coils in a quadrature scheme.
(6) The present invention, in accordance with still another aspect thereof for solving the aforementioned problem, is a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus having static magnetic field generating means for generating a static magnetic field in a space for accommodating a subject to be imaged, gradient magnetic field generating means for generating a gradient magnetic field in said space, RF signal transmitting means for transmitting an RF signal to said space, RF signal receiving means for receiving an RF signal from said space, and image producing means for producing an image based on said received RF signal, characterized in that: said RF signal receiving means comprises a first saddle coil having two loop portions of a geometry suited for sandwiching the lower abdomen of a human body from the anterior and posterior sides with the two loop portions facing each other; a second saddle coil having two loop portions of a geometry suited for allowing the lower limbs of the human body to be inserted into the two loop portions, and sandwiching the lower abdomen from the right and left sides with the two loop portions facing each other; and combining means for combining two RF signals respectively received by said first and second saddle coils in a quadrature scheme.
(7) The present invention, in accordance with still another aspect thereof for solving the aforementioned problem, is a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus having static magnetic field generating means for generating a static magnetic field in a space for
Nabetani Akira
Tamura Mitsuru
Armstrong Teasdale LLP
Fetzner Tiffany A.
GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company LLC
Gutierrez Diego
Horton Esq. Carl B.
LandOfFree
Lower abdomen RF coil and magnetic resonance imaging apparatus does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Lower abdomen RF coil and magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Lower abdomen RF coil and magnetic resonance imaging apparatus will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3328338