Method, device and non-transitory digital storage medium for non-aqueous tissue volume estimation

1. A method for estimating non-aqueous tissue volume of at least a portion of a subject, the method comprising:

obtaining, with a processor, quantitative magnetic resonance properties of the portion of the subject, the magnetic resonance properties of the portion of the subject including at least a longitudinal relaxation rate (R 1 ) and a transverse relaxation rate (R 2 ), and a proton density (PD) for the portion,

providing, with the processor, the quantitative magnetic resonance properties as input to a tissue model, and

determining, with the processor and based on the tissue model and the quantitative magnetic resonance properties, the non-aqueous tissue volume of the portion,

wherein the tissue model comprises at least three volume compartments including a free water partial compartment, a cellular tissue partial volume compartment, and a myelin tissue partial volume compartment.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining the non-aqueous tissue volume comprises:

determining at least one partial volume compartment within the portion, and

determining a non-aqueous tissue partial volume present within each partial volume compartment, and

determining the non-aqueous tissue volume by adding up all said non-aqueous tissue partial volumes, or

determining an aqueous partial volume present within each partial volume compartment, and

determining a total aqueous volume by adding up all said aqueous partial volumes, and

determining the non-aqueous tissue volume by subtracting the total aqueous volume from a total volume of the portion.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the partial volume compartment comprises free water, excess parenchymal water, cellular tissue or myelin tissue.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising providing a reference value and comparing the non-aqueous tissue volume to the reference value.

5. The method according to claim 2 , wherein determining the partial volume compartment, comprises determining:

a fraction of the partial volume compartment present in the portion.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the quantitative magnetic resonance properties are determined simultaneously in a single magnetic resonance acquisition.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising, in the processor, multiplying the determined non-aqueous tissue volume with a reference factor to obtain a hydration-corrected tissue volume.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the reference factor is determined based on a number of obtained reference values from a group of reference subjects.

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a tissue fraction by dividing the non-aqueous tissue volume by the total volume of the portion.

10. A device for estimating non-aqueous tissue volume of at least a portion of a subject, the device comprising:

a magnetic resonance imaging device for obtaining quantitative magnetic resonance properties of at least a portion of a subject, and

a processor configured to:

obtain quantitative magnetic resonance properties of the portion of the subject, the magnetic resonance properties of the portion of the subject including at least a longitudinal relaxation rate (R 1 ) and a transverse relaxation rate (R 2 ), and a proton density (PD) for the portion,

provide the quantitative magnetic resonance properties as input to a tissue model, and

determine, based on the tissue model and the quantitative magnetic resonance properties, the non-aqueous tissue volume of the portion,

wherein the tissue model comprises at least three volume compartments including a free water partial compartment, a cellular tissue partial volume compartment, and a myelin tissue partial volume compartment.

11. The device according to claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine at least one partial volume compartment within the portion, and

determine a non-aqueous tissue partial volume present within each partial volume compartment, and

determine the non-aqueous tissue volume by adding up all said non-aqueous tissue partial volumes, or

determine an aqueous partial volume present within each partial volume compartment, and

determine a total aqueous volume by adding up all said aqueous partial volumes, and

determine the non-aqueous tissue volume by subtracting the total aqueous volume from a total volume of the portion.

12. The device according to claim 11 , wherein the processor, when determining the partial volume compartment, is further configured to determine:

a fraction of the partial volume compartment present in the portion.

13. The device according to claim 10 , wherein the quantitative magnetic resonance properties are determined simultaneously in a single magnetic resonance acquisition by the magnetic resonance imaging device.

14. The device according to claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to multiply the obtained non-aqueous tissue volume with a reference factor to obtain a hydration-corrected tissue volume.

15. The device according to claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the reference factor based on a number of obtained reference values from a group of reference subjects.

16. The device according to claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine a tissue fraction by dividing the non-aqueous tissue volume by the total volume of the portion.

17. The device according to claim 10 , further comprising an interface configured to present information to a user.

18. A non-transitory digital storage medium having stored there on computer program instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method comprising:

obtaining quantitative magnetic resonance properties of the portion of the subject, the magnetic resonance properties of the portion of the subject including at least a longitudinal relaxation rate (R 1 ) and a transverse relaxation rate (R 2 ), and a proton density (PD) for the portion,

providing the quantitative magnetic resonance properties as input to a tissue model, and

determining, based on the tissue model and the quantitative magnetic resonance properties, the non-aqueous tissue volume of the portion,

wherein the tissue model comprises at least three volume compartments including a free water partial compartment, a cellular tissue partial volume compartment, and a myelin tissue partial volume compartment.