Search

EP-4500207-B1 - MAGNETIC RESONANCE RECEIVER COIL ARRAY WITH SENSOR NODE

EP4500207B1EP 4500207 B1EP4500207 B1EP 4500207B1EP-4500207-B1

Inventors

  • OUZOUNOV, Sotir Filipov
  • VAN LIERE, FILIPS

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230322

Claims (14)

  1. A magnetic resonance, MR, receiver coil array (1) for an MR imaging system, the MR receiver coil array (1) comprising: - a radio frequency, RF, receiver antenna (2), - a digital amplifier signal acquisition circuit (16), comprising a digital amplifier (4), wherein the digital amplifier signal acquisition circuit (16) is configured for receiving an MR signal from the RF receiver antenna (2) and outputting a digital amplified MR signal, and - a sensor node (3) comprising a sensor (23) for gathering measurement data other than MR signal acquisition, the sensor node (3) further comprising a sensor signal acquisition circuit (25), wherein the sensor signal acquisition circuit (25) is configured to digitize the gathered measurement data, wherein the sensor signal acquisition circuit (25) is connected to the digital amplifier signal acquisition circuit (16) via a first digital interface (27), wherein the sensor signal acquisition circuit (25) is configured to link the digitized measurement data from the sensor signal acquisition circuit (25) to the digital amplifier (4) via the first digital interface (27), wherein the digital amplifier (4) is configured to combine the digitized measurement data from the sensor signal acquisition circuit (25) and the digital amplified MR signal, wherein - the MR receiver coil array (1) comprises a merger circuit (6), wherein the merger circuit (6) is configured to receive the combined digital amplified MR signal and the digitized measurement data from the digital amplifier (4) by a second digital interface (28) and to output the combined data to a back-end of the MR imaging system or a digital data processor.
  2. The magnetic resonance receiver coil array (1) according to claim 1, wherein the sensor (23) has a common ground with the digital amplifier (4).
  3. The magnetic resonance receiver coil array (1) according to any preceding claim, wherein the sensor (23) of the sensor node (3) is configured to detect a physiological measured value of the patient to be examined.
  4. The magnetic resonance receiver coil array (1) according to claim 3, wherein the sensor (23) is an electrophysiology sensor or a motion sensor.
  5. The magnetic resonance receiver coil array (1) according to claim 4, wherein the sensor (23) is a capacitive electrophysiology sensor comprising a capacitive electrode (24).
  6. The magnetic resonance receiver coil array (1) according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the sensor (23) is configured to measure a parameter of the environment in which the MR signal is gathered and/or to measure a parameter of the MR imaging system.
  7. The magnetic resonance receiver coil array (1) according to claim 6, wherein the measured value of the environment in which the MR signal is gathered is the temperature and/or vibrations of the MR imaging system and/or the measured value of the MR imaging system is an operational state of a component of the MR imaging system and/or a local magnetic field strength distribution or dynamics of the MR imaging system.
  8. The magnetic resonance receiver coil array (1) according to any preceding claim, wherein the MR receiver coil array (1) comprises a plurality of RF receiver antennas (2) with a plurality of digital amplifier signal acquisition circuits (16) and a plurality of sensors (23) with a plurality of sensor signal acquisition circuits (25), wherein the sensors (23), several sensors of the same type, or several sensors of different types, are configured for providing data to one or a plurality of digital amplifiers (4), wherein the digital amplifier (4) is configured to collect the measurement data from multiple sensors (23) of same or different type and to facilitate the transport of grouped sensory data to the merger circuit (6), wherein the merger circuit (6) is configured to combine the data from the individual sensor types into data channels and to transfer data to the back-end of the MR imaging system as a single or multiple data channels.
  9. The magnetic resonance receiver coil array according to claim 8, wherein the MR receiver coil array comprises different type of sensors (23), wherein the measurement data of the different type of sensors (23) is transported to the merger circuit (6), wherein the merger circuit (6) is configured to merge the measurement data from the different types of sensors (23) per sensor type.
  10. A method of acquiring measurement data with a sensor node (3) in a magnetic resonance, MR, receiver coil array (1), the method comprising: - providing an MR receiver coil array (1) according to any of claims 1 to 9 with a sensor node (3) comprising a sensor (23) for acquiring measurement data other than MR signal acquisition, - gathering measurement data by means of the sensor (23) where the data can be temporally stored in a local memory, - digitizing the gathered measurement data by means of the sensor signal acquisition circuit (25), - linking the data to the digital amplifier (4) via the first digital interface (27), - combining the measurement data and the digital amplified MR signal received by the RF receiver antenna (2) in the digital amplifier (4), - transferring the combined data to the merger circuit (6) via the second digital interface (28), - outputting the combined data to a back-end of an MR imaging system by the merger circuit (6).
  11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the digital amplifier (4) comprises a digital controller (20), wherein combining the measurement data and the digital amplified MR signal received by the RF receiver antenna (2) in the digital amplifier (4) comprises: - initiating a sensor measurement and acquiring sensor data by the digital controller (20), where the data can be temporally stored in a local memory, - putting the measurement data in a communication layer of the digital amplifier in a time-interleaved fashion together with the digitized MR signal.
  12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the MR receiver coil array (1) comprises a plurality of RF receiver antennas (2) with a plurality of digital amplifier signal acquisition circuits (16) and a plurality of sensors (23) with a plurality of sensor signal acquisition circuits (25), wherein the sensors (23), several sensors of the same type or several sensors of different types are configured for providing data to one or a plurality of digital amplifiers (4), and wherein combining the measurement data and the digital amplified MR signal received by the RF receiver antenna (2) in the digital amplifier (4), comprises: - collecting the measurement data from multiple sensors (23) of same or different type by the digital amplifier (4) and facilitating the transport of grouped sensory data to the merger circuit (6), - combining the data from the individual sensor types into data channels by the merger circuit (6) and transferring data to the back-end of the MR imaging system as a single or multiple data channels.
  13. The method according to any of claims 10 to 12, wherein the gathered sensory data is time aligned in each digital amplifier (4) with main RF data.
  14. A magnetic resonance imaging device comprising a magnetic resonance receiver coil array (1) according to any of claims 1 to 9.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to the field of magnetic resonance receiver coil arrays, and in particular to a magnetic receiver coil array with an additional sensor node. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements are done during a magnetic resonance (MR) scan to monitor electrophysiology and to provide timing information for the heart cycle that in turn is used to trigger the MR scan. The triggering is mandatory for imaging of the heart and facilitates image quality improvement for all other organs. Currently, the ECG measurement during MR scan is done with a dedicated ECG device that is fully or partially in the MR scanning bore. The signal acquisition is done with a set of wet electrodes that are attached to the patient during the scan preparation. This requires a separate step that has to be performed by trained personnel to guarantee correct position and attachment of the ECG electrodes to the patient. Usage of ECG in the MR bore is very complicated due to the requirement for full MR compatibility of the ECG measurement and due to the mutual impacts on the quality of the gathered signals. For example, the ECG signal is distorted during magnetic field gradient switching due to EMI and due to vibrations of the electronics. The ECG cables can also adversely impact the MR scan. ECG signals appear on the body as surface potentials resulting from the electric activity of the heart. It can be desirable to obtain diagnostic quality ECG signals while a patient is being monitored in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. Current ECG with wet electrodes is independent from the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system and only allows gating of the MR sequence in respect to an averaged heart rate obtained from the ECG measurement. Such ECG gating provides information regarding what part of the heart cycle the heart is at for purposes of triggering an MR image to be taken at the desired point in the heart cycle. Furthermore, it is not presently possible to obtain adequate ECG quality on standard 1.5 T or higher MRI systems. In addition, ECG triggering can also be difficult on standard 3T or higher MRI systems. Accordingly, there is currently no diagnostic quality ECG system that can be used in the MRI system. Currently ECG measurements in the MR bore are done with a separate ECG system that is placed on the patient in a separate step. The ECG uses only a few electrodes (to limit the cable count). Further wet ECG electrodes are used that are connected with long cables to the sensor electronics. Patient preparation for ECG measurement is lengthy and not sufficiently robust process. Similar reasoning is applicable to all types of ExG measurements and, to all type of measurements that are relevant during MR signal acquisition. Most of them are not done today due the high complexity and cost associated with their introduction in the coil. EP3841972A1 discloses a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging system with an integrated vital signs detector for the detection of vital signs of a patient within the magnetic resonance (MR) imaging system. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to enhance the MR image quality or system maintenance by providing additional data by an additional sensor node. The invention is defined by the independent claims. Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in the dependent claims. A first aspect of the invention provides a magnetic resonance (MR) receiver coil array for an MR imaging system, the MR receiver coil array comprising: at least one radio frequency (RF) receiver antenna,at least one digital amplifier signal acquisition circuit, comprising a digital amplifier, wherein the digital amplifier signal acquisition circuit is configured for receiving an MR signal from the RF receiver antenna and outputting a digital amplified MR signal,at least one sensor node comprising a sensor for gathering measurement data, the sensor node further comprising a sensor signal acquisition circuit, wherein the sensor signal acquisition circuit is configured to digitize the gathered measurement data, wherein the sensor signal acquisition circuit is connected to the digital amplifier signal acquisition circuit via a first digital interface, wherein the sensor signal acquisition circuit is configured to link the digitized measurement data from the sensor signal acquisition circuit to the digital amplifier via the first digital interface, wherein the digital amplifier is configured to combine the digitized measurement data from the sensor signal acquisition circuit and the digital amplified MR signal, whereinthe MR receiver coil array comprises a merger circuit, wherein the merger circuit is configured to receive the combined digital amplified MR signal and the digitized measurement data from the digital amplifier by a second digital interface and to output the combined data to a back-end of the MR imaging system or a digital data processor. In case o