Magnetic resonance diffractive imaging.

Abstract

Magnetic resonance (MR) diffractive imaging is proposed as a new approach to MR angiography. The expression of the nuclear MR signal is similar to the equation for the Fresnel diffraction of a three-dimensional (3-D) object in light or sound waves. The proposed technique offers the possibility of fast angiographic imaging and the on-line reconstruction of 3-D volumetric images using the holographic technique. Static imaging experiments using an ultra-low-field MRI system are performed to verify the feasibility of the technique. It is shown that the images focused on an arbitrary plane can be reconstructed from data scanned in two dimensions, even though blurred image data is superimposed on the image. Moreover, the 3-D image can be observed in a coherent optical imaging system. This study demonstrates the possibility of the proposed method as a fast imaging technique for MR angiography.