TECHNIQUES FOR DYNAMIC CONTROL OF A MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING SYSTEM
Techniques are described for controlling components of a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system with a single controller, such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), by dynamically instructing the controller to issue commands to the components using a processor coupled to the controller. According to some aspects, the controller may issue commands to the components of the MRI system whilst actively receiving commands from the processor to be later issued to the components.
1 . (canceled)
2 . A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, comprising:
MRI components configured to acquire magnetic resonance (MR) data;
a controller coupled to the MRI components and configured to control operation of the MRI components during acquisition of the MR data; and
a processor coupled to the controller and configured, during acquisition of the MR data, to determine when command data is to be transmitted to the controller and when data is to be received from the controller based at least in part on information indicative of storage capacity available to the controller for storing command data;
wherein the controller is configured to receive and store command data from the processor and to control operation of the MRI components based on the stored command data.
3 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein receiving data from the controller by the processor increases the storage capacity available to the controller for storing command data.
4 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to dynamically adapt when command data is transmitted to the controller and when data is received from the controller to avoid exhaustion of the storage capacity available to the controller for storing command data.
5 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to dynamically adapt when command data is transmitted to the controller and when data is received from the controller such that command data remains buffered at the controller for controlling operation of the MRI components.
6 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to control operation of the MRI components using the stored command data while additional command data is being received from the processor.
7 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the data received from the controller by the processor comprises at least one of status information indicative of the storage capacity available to the controller or the MR data acquired by the MRI components.
8 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to execute a transmission manager that, during acquisition of the MR data, determines when command data is to be transmitted to the controller and when data is to be received from the controller based at least in part on the information indicative of the storage capacity available to the controller.
9 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to determine times at which commands are to be issued by the controller to the MRI components.
10 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to determine times at which commands are to be issued by the controller to the MRI components and to assign priority levels to different types of commands to be issued by the controller so that commands that would otherwise overlap in time are scheduled for serial issuance by the controller.
11 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to assign priority levels to different types of commands to be issued by the controller, to maintain commands in high-priority channels at intended times, and to iteratively search for available time slots for commands in lower-priority channels.
12 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the information indicative of the storage capacity available to the controller is transmitted from the controller to the processor periodically.
13 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the information indicative of the storage capacity available to the controller is transmitted from the controller to the processor in response to a request from the processor.
14 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the information indicative of the storage capacity available to the controller is transmitted from the controller to the processor when MR data is provided from the controller to the processor.
15 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to control operation of the MRI components before completion of receipt of all command data associated with a pulse sequence.
16 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to determine when command data is to be transmitted to the controller based on both (i) an amount of command data currently stored by the controller and (ii) an amount of command data remaining to be issued by the controller to control operation of the MRI components.
17 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to determine when command data is to be transmitted to the controller prior to acquisition of the MR data and to dynamically adapt the determination during acquisition of the MR data.
18 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the controller stores the command data in a buffer from which commands are issued to the MRI components.
19 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is a single controller.
20 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).
21 . The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the MRI system is a low-field MRI system operating with a B 0 field of less than or equal to approximately 0.2 T.
22 . A method performed by a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system comprising a processor and a controller coupled to the processor, the method comprising:
determining, by the processor during acquisition of magnetic resonance (MR) data, when command data is to be transmitted to the controller and when data is to be received from the controller based at least in part on information indicative of storage capacity available to the controller for storing command data;
receiving and storing, by the controller, command data from the processor; and
controlling, by the controller based on the stored command data, operation of MRI components to acquire the MR data.
23 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, cause the MRI system to:
determine, during acquisition of magnetic resonance (MR) data, when command data is to be transmitted by a processor to a controller and when data is to be received by the processor from the controller based at least in part on information indicative of storage capacity available to the controller for storing command data;
receive and store, by the controller, command data from the processor; and
control, by the controller based on the stored command data, operation of MRI components to acquire the MR data.