Method and Apparatus for Providing Mri Images Relating to at Least One Body Portion of a Patient with Reduced Administration of Contrast Agent

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This patent presents a method and apparatus for producing high-quality MRI images of at least one body part of a patient while significantly reducing the amount of contrast agent administered. It combines normal (non-contrast) and low-dose contrast MRI images, aligns them in 3D, computes subtraction images, and uses a trained neural network to enhance contrast and reduce artifacts. The approach allows for at least 50% (and possibly up to 95%) less contrast agent use, while maintaining image quality important for diagnostics.

Use CasesContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Clinical MRI imaging in hospitals and diagnostic centers, especially for patients at risk from contrast agents
• Routine MRI scans where repeated contrast use may be medically inadvisable
• Pediatric or vulnerable patients who require reduced chemical exposure
• Veterinary MRI applications to minimize contrast agent use in animals
• Remote or telemedicine MRI diagnostics where reduced resource consumption is critical
• Cost-sensitive healthcare environments or populations
• Integration into MRI equipment or as an upgrade to existing MRI workflows

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Reduces patient exposure to potentially harmful contrast agents, minimizing health risks and side effects
• Lowers cost of MRI procedures by decreasing expensive contrast media usage
• Maintains diagnostic image quality, even with much less contrast agent used
• Supports safer imaging for sensitive groups, such as children, people with kidney issues, and the elderly
• Reduces environmental contamination from contrast agent excretion
• Can be implemented as software on existing MRI systems or integrated into new devices
• Faster and more efficient processing compared to previous AI-based methods, as images are handled and registered in 3D, reducing artifacts and computational complexity
• Scalable to a wide range of medical and veterinary imaging situations

Technical Classifications (CPCs)

Inventors & Applicants

Patent Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a device (1) for providing MRI images relating to at least one part of a patient's body with reduced contrast medium administration. The device (1) has input means for obtaining MRI images relating to at least one part of a patient's body without contrast medium administration, • input means for obtaining MRI images with respect to at least the part of the patient's body with contrast agent administration, wherein the contrast agent administration allowed for the body part is reduced by at least 50% compared to a conventional MRI image, • means for image registration of the MRI images without contrast medium administration and of the MRI images with contrast medium administration, wherein the means for image registration operate in three-dimensional space, • means for producing at least one subtraction image from the comparison of image-registered MRI images without contrast medium administration and image-registered MRI images with contrast medium administration, • means for contrast enhancement based on the subtraction image and the image-registered MRI images without contrast agent administration or with reduced contrast agent administration, wherein the means for contrast enhancement based on a trained neural network provide both enhancement and artefact reduction by means of a non-linear transformation, wherein the means for contrast enhancement are arranged to produce a de-noised contrast enhanced difference image, • wherein three-dimensional data are used throughout, and the image registration means provide rigid body registration in three dimensions. The invention also relates to a computer program product and the use of the method and devices according to the invention.