Systems, methods and GUI for chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) analysis

1. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system comprising:

an MRI gantry having components including a static magnetic field coil, gradient magnetic field coils, and at least one radio frequency (RF) coil coupled to an imaging volume; and

control circuits coupled to and controlling said gantry components to:

(a) apply to the imaging volume a sequence of magnetization transfer (MT) pulses and at least one subsequent MR imaging sequence;

(b) receive NMR RF responses;

(c) form respective images representing Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) effects based upon the received NMR RF responses;

(d) repeat steps (a)-(c) for each of a plurality of MT frequencies within a first range of frequencies;

(e) display, at least one at a time, a plurality of the formed CEST images on a display screen viewable by a user;

(f) receive user input identifying at least one of the displayed CEST images as corresponding to a target frequency based upon the MT frequency used to form the identified CEST image;

(g) generate an enhanced output CEST image based upon a plurality of the formed CEST images acquired using MT frequencies within a specified second MT frequency range including the user-identified target frequency, said second frequency range being smaller than said first frequency range; and

(h) output the enhanced output CEST image.

2. The MRI system according to claim 1 , wherein each of the formed CEST images is based upon a respective asymmetric magnetization transfer ratio (MTRasym) determination.

3. The MRI system according to claim 1 , wherein displaying a plurality of the formed CEST images on a display screen includes simultaneously displaying the plurality of the formed CEST images on the display screen.

4. The MRI system according to claim 1 , wherein the displayed formed CEST images include at least formed CEST images corresponding to an amide MT frequency and amine MT frequency.

5. The MRI system according to claim 4 , wherein the displayed formed CEST images further include a formed CEST image corresponding to a hydroxyl MT frequency.

6. The MRI system according to claim 1 , wherein generating the enhanced CEST image includes calculating, on a pixel by pixel basis, the enhanced CEST image by at least one of: (1) an average, (2) a sum, or (3) an integral of, said formed CEST images that are within the specified second MT frequency range.

7. The MRI system according to claim 1 , wherein for the specified second MT frequency range the plurality of the formed CEST images are acquired using smaller increments of MT frequency than increments of MT frequency used for the displayed plurality of formed CEST images.

8. The MRI system according to claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise providing a graphical user interface (GUI) having a map display area and one or more user controls, the one or more user controls being controllable by the user to specify one or more of the formed CEST images to be displayed on the GUI map display area.

9. The MRI system according to claim 8 , wherein the one or more user controls are configurable to specify a display range of MT frequencies for which formed CEST images are displayed on the GUI map display area, said display range being within said first range, including its upper and lower limits.

10. The MRI system according to claim 8 , wherein the one or more user controls are configurable to specify the second range of MT frequencies.

11. The MRI system according to claim 8 , wherein the one or more user controls are configurable to specify a number of said formed CEST images to be saved in a batch mode.

12. The MRI system according to claim 8 , wherein outputting the enhanced CEST image includes overlaying the enhanced CEST image onto a source image of a same patient anatomy.

13. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method for use in an MRI system, said method comprising:

(a) applying, to an imaging volume in a gantry of the MRI system, a sequence of magnetization transfer (MT) pulses and at least one subsequent MR imaging sequence;

(b) receiving NMR RF responses;

(c) forming respective images representing Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) effects based upon the received NMR RF responses;

(d) repeating steps (a)-(c) for each of a plurality of MT frequencies within a first range of frequencies;

(e) displaying, at least one at a time, a plurality of the formed CEST images on a display screen viewable by a user;

(f) receiving user input identifying at least one of the displayed CEST images as corresponding to a target frequency based upon the MT frequency used to form the identified CEST image;

(g) generating an enhanced output CEST image based upon a plurality of the formed CEST images acquired using MT frequencies within a specified second MT frequency range including the user-identified target frequency, said second frequency range being smaller than said first frequency range; and

(h) outputting the enhanced output CEST image.

14. The MRI method according to claim 13 , wherein each of the formed CEST images is based upon a respective asymmetric magnetization transfer ratio (MTRasym) determination.

15. The MRI method according to claim 13 , wherein displaying a plurality of the formed CEST images on a display screen includes simultaneously displaying the plurality of the formed CEST images on the display screen.

16. The MRI method according to claim 13 , wherein generating the enhanced CEST image includes calculating, on a pixel by pixel basis, the enhanced CEST image by at least one of: (1) an average, (2) a sum, or (3) an integral, of said formed CEST images that are in the specified second MT frequency range.

17. The MRI method according to claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise providing a graphical user interface (GUI) having a map display area and one or more user controls, the one or more user controls being controllable by the user to specify one or more of the formed CEST images to be displayed on the GUI.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored therein computer program instructions that, when executed by a processor of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, causes the processor to perform operations comprising:

(a) applying, to an imaging volume in a gantry of the MRI system, a sequence of magnetization transfer (MT) pulses and at least one subsequent MR imaging sequence;

(b) receiving NMR RF responses;

(c) forming respective images representing Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) effects based upon the received NMR RF responses;

(d) repeating steps (a)-(c) for each of a plurality of MT frequencies within a first range of frequencies;

(e) displaying, at least one at a time, a plurality of the formed CEST images on a display screen viewable by a user;

(f) receiving user input identifying at least one of the displayed CEST images as corresponding to a target frequency based upon the MT frequency used to form the identified CEST image;

(g) generating an enhanced output CEST image based upon a plurality of the formed CEST images acquired using MT frequencies within a specified second MT frequency range including the user-identified target frequency, said second frequency range being smaller than said first frequency range; and

(h) outputting the enhanced output CEST image.