1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a magnetic resonance (MR) method for imaging a part of a human or animal body which is arranged in a steady magnetic field, which method includes the following steps:
image of the second imaging plane of the part, a first cross-section of said part being reproduced in the first MR image whereas a second cross-section of said part is reproduced in the second MR image, PA1 forming a third MR image of the third imaging plane from information of the first and second MR images. 2. Description of Related Art PA1 means for sustaining the steady magnetic field, PA1 means for generating RF pulses, PA1 means for generating gradients in the steady magnetic field, PA1 a control unit for generating control signals for the means for generating RF pulses and the means for generating the gradients, PA1 means for measuring MR signals, PA1 means for reconstructing a first MR image and a second MR image from the measured MR signals from a first imaging plane and a second imaging plane, respectively, of a part of the body to be arranged in the MR device, a first cross-section of said part being reproduced in the first MR image whereas a second cross-section is reproduced in the second MR image, PA1 means for determining a third imaging plane of a third cross-section of the first part, and PA1 means for reconstructing a third MR image of the third imaging plane, PA1 characterized in that the means for determining a third imaging plane are arranged in such a manner that two points of the third imaging plane are determined by a first point of the first cross-section of the part in the first MR image and a second point of the second cross-section of the part in the second MR image.
The invention also relates to an MR device for carrying out such a method.
An imaging plane is to be understood to mean herein a slice of the body which is visualized by means of an MR image.
A method of this kind is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,962. The known method is used to form MR images for a functional analysis of a part of the body, for example a heart of the human or animal body. In order, it is used to form perfusion MR images of the heart or MR images of the coronary artery system around the heart. In such cases it is important to image an as large as possible part of a coronary artery. Because measurement of MR signals often utilizes a technique which requires a patient to hold his or her breath during a measurement, it is important that an appropriate orientation of the third imaging plane is found as quickly as possible in order to reduce discomfort to the patient.
To this end, according to the known method imaging information is measured and a three-dimensional model of the part of the body is displayed on a monitor by means of a workstation. In order to determine the third imaging plane of the third image, reproducing most of the part, an auxiliary plane is subsequently displayed on the monitor. Subsequently, the operator shifts the auxiliary plane, by way of translation and rotation of the auxiliary plane, in such a manner that the auxiliary plane displayed on the monitor intersects the three-dimensional model for a largest part. The co-ordinates of the auxiliary plane thus found subsequently determine the co-ordinates of the third imaging plane. During a next step MR signals are measured for the reconstruction of the third MR image of the third imaging plane of the part. It is a drawback of the known method that a large amount of time is required in order to determine a three-dimensional model of adequate resolution. Examples of parts of the body having a small cross-section are, for example parts of the coronary artery which have a cross-section of approximately 1 mm.