Toroidal system configuration for dedicated MRI scanners
A magnetic resonance imaging system can include a basic field magnetic arrangement for generating a main magnetic field and a number of spatially separated imaging regions, the basic field magnetic arrangement including several spatially separated magnet segments, in order to generate segment magnetic fields with a defined segment field direction, at least two of the spatially separated magnet segments being configured in a way that their defined segment field directions are running in an angular fashion to each other so that the segment magnetic fields result in a main magnetic field which has the form of toroid, where the magnetic resonance imaging system is designed to be adapted to MR imaging of dedicated body or organ parts of a patient.
1. A magnetic resonance imaging system comprising:
a basic field magnetic arrangement configured to generate a main magnetic field and a number of spatially separated imaging regions, each of the spatially separated imaging regions of the basic field magnetic arrangement including at least two spatially separated magnet segments configured to generate respective segment magnetic fields with corresponding defined segment field directions, wherein:
the at least two of the spatially separated magnet segments are angularly arranged with respect to one another to form an opening angle therebetween, the at least two of the spatially separated magnet segments being configured such that the respective defined segment field directions of the at least two segment magnet segments run in an angular fashion with respect to one another such that the at least two segment magnetic fields result in the main magnetic field having a toroid form,
at least one imaging region of the spatially separated imaging regions is V-shaped and within the opening angle formed between the respective at least two of the spatially separated magnet segments arranged in a V-shaped arrangement, the at least one V-shaped imaging region being defined by the at least two of the spatially separated magnet segments arranged in the V-shaped arrangement, and
the magnetic resonance imaging system is adaptable to magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of dedicated body parts or organ parts of a patient.
2. The magnetic resonance imaging system according to claim 1 , wherein the MRI system is adapted for:
cardiac imaging of a heart of the patient,
mammography imaging of a breast of the patient,
neurological imaging of a brain or spine of the patient,
urological imaging of a prostate of the patient,
orthopedics imaging of joints of the patient,
ophthalmologic imaging of an eye of the patient,
dental imaging of a jaw or teeth of the patient,
MR-guided radiation therapy, and/or
interventional radiology.
3. The magnetic resonance imaging system according to claim 1 , wherein:
the at least two spatially separated magnet segments are aligned in a star-shaped fashion and the number of spatially separated imaging regions includes multiple imaging regions configured for simultaneous operation, and/or
a symmetry axis of the toroidal main magnetic field is positioned horizontally.
4. The magnetic resonance imaging system according to claim 1 , wherein:
the at least two spatially separated magnet segments are aligned in a star-shaped fashion and the number of spatially separated imaging regions includes multiple imaging regions configured for simultaneous operation, and
a symmetry axis of the toroidal main magnetic field is positioned horizontally.
5. The magnetic resonance imaging system according to claim 1 , wherein:
an angular coverage of an imaging region, of the number of spatially separated imaging regions, lies between 60° and 90° degrees, and
the magnetic resonance imaging system further comprises a magnetic resonance imaging scanner having an axial extension along a symmetry axis, the axial extension being: between 15 cm and 30 cm when the magnetic resonance imaging scanner is a dental scanner, between 15 cm and 30 cm when the magnetic resonance imaging scanner is a prostate scanner, or between 30 cm and 60 cm when the magnetic resonance imaging scanner is configured for cardiac imaging.
6. The magnetic resonance imaging system according to claim 1 , wherein:
the magnetic resonance imaging system is configured such that the patient can stand, sit, and/or lie on their back during imaging,
the magnetic resonance imaging system includes a toroidal magnetic resonance imaging scanner is configured to move towards the patient from the front with a hinge mechanism fixed to a ceiling of a treatment room, and/or
the patient is movable to an imaging region of the number of spatially separated imaging regions by moving a patient bed or chair accordingly, or the magnetic resonance imaging scanner is configured such that the patient can lie in a predefined position in the imaging region of the magnetic resonance imaging scanner, at least a region of the patient that is to be scanned resting in a center part of the basic field magnetic arrangement.
7. The magnetic resonance imaging system according to claim 1 , wherein:
the magnetic resonance imaging system is configured such that a symmetry axis of the toroidal main magnetic field is positioned horizontally and one side wall of an imaging region, of the number of spatially separated imaging regions, is positioned in a horizontal plane,
the magnetic resonance imaging system comprises a patient bed arranged on the side wall in the horizontal plane, the patient bed being movable along a vertical direction and/or along a horizontal direction,
the number of spatially separated imaging regions of the magnetic resonance imaging system comprises one single imaging region or two imaging regions in a mirrored arrangement, such that there is a number of magnet segments between the imaging regions forming a wall between the imaging regions together with a housing of a scanner of the magnetic resonance imaging system.
8. The magnetic resonance imaging system according to claim 1 , wherein:
the number of spatially separated imaging regions comprise a number of V-shaped imaging regions,
the magnetic resonance imaging system comprises a further medical imaging and/or intervention component including an X-ray component, a radiographic imaging device, a tomographic imaging device, and/or γ-ray or X-ray sources for radiation therapy, and
the magnetic resonance imaging system is configured for magnetic resonance guided radio therapy, including on-line image guidance for application of a local therapy.
9. The magnetic resonance imaging system according to claim 8 , wherein:
the magnetic resonance imaging system is configured for intensity-modulated radiation therapy, and
the magnetic resonance imaging system comprises:
a number of computer-controlled linear accelerators (LINACs) and/or other γ-ray or X-ray sources arranged such that a beam can be led into at least one of the spatially separated imaging regions, and
a controller is configured such that images or other information taken by the magnetic resonance imaging system is usable to control the number of LINACs or other γ-ray or X-ray sources.
10. The magnetic resonance imaging system according to claim 8 , wherein:
the magnetic resonance imaging system is configured for angiographic magnetic resonance, the magnetic resonance imaging system including a number of X-ray imaging units, each X-ray imaging unit including an X-ray source and a digital X-ray detector, and
the magnetic resonance imaging system is configured to perform a parallel acquisition of MR images and X-ray images.
11. The magnetic resonance imaging system according to claim 10 , wherein:
the magnetic resonance imaging system is configured to acquire multiple X-ray projection images at various angulations and generate CT-like slice images based on the acquired multiple X-ray projection images used for digital tomosynthesis, and
the acquired multiple X-ray projection images are registered with MR images taken parallelly to the X-ray projection images.
12. The magnetic resonance imaging system according to claim 8 , further comprising a radiation source configured to be movable to various positions and respective angulations, the radiation source being movable along a 90° path by rotating around a longitudinal patient axis and/or along a 180° path by rotation around an X-axis of the magnetic resonance imaging system, wherein the radiation source is positioned on a rotating arm configured to rotate around a system axis of the scanner to change an angulation between a beam and the patient.
13. A method for controlling a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system with two or more spatially separated imaging regions, the method comprising:
generating a main magnetic field in the two or more imaging regions, each of the two or more imaging regions being formed by spatially separated magnet segments angularly arranged with respect to one another to form an opening angle therebetween, wherein at least one imaging region is V-shaped and within the opening angle formed between respective spatially separated magnet segments arranged in a V-shaped arrangement, the at least one V-shaped imaging region being defined by the respective spatially separated magnet segments arranged in the V-shaped arrangement;
adapting an imaging protocol for simultaneous scanning of the at least two patients at the two or more imaging regions to reduce a required time for the simultaneous scanning and/or to reduce interferences between the simultaneous scanning at the two or more imaging regions, wherein the generated main magnetic field is commonly utilized for the two or more imaging regions; and
applying the imaging protocol to the magnetic resonance imaging system.
14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein:
applying the imaging protocol comprises a succession of separate scans, the separate scans including T1-weighted scans, T2-weighted scans, diffusion-weighted imaging scans, contrast agent-free perfusion imaging scans, and/or spectroscopic MRI scans; and
the method includes a temporal succession of the same imaging protocol cyclically running synchronously in every of the two or more imaging regions in a measurement cycle.
15. The method according to claim 13 , wherein:
similar or identical sequences of scans are applied synchronously, while patients having an opportunity to be scanned asynchronously,
a first time of entrance of a first patient to a first imaging region of the two or more imaging regions is independent of a second time of entrance of a second patient in a second imaging region of the two or more imaging regions, and
a point of time when the first patient enters the first imaging region and an examination start time during a running imaging protocol is monitored relative to the running imaging protocol, and the examination of the first patient is ended when the point of time in a following imaging protocol is reached.
16. The method according to claim 13 , wherein similar or identical sequences are applied synchronously, while a group of patients is scanned simultaneously and/or synchronously.
17. A computer program product, embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, including a program and being directly loadable into a memory of the MRI system, when executed by a processor of the MRI system, causes the processor to perform the method as claimed in claim 13 .
18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium with an executable program stored thereon, that when executed, instructs a processor to perform the method of claim 13 .