Real‐time interactive MRI on a conventional scanner

A real‐time interactive MRI system capable of localizing coronary arteries and imaging arrhythmic hearts in real‐time is described. Non‐2DFT acquisition strategies such as spiral‐interleaf, spiral‐ring, and circular echo‐planar imaging provide short scan times on a conventional scanner. Real‐time grid‐ding reconstruction at 8–20 image is achieved by distributing the reconstruction on general‐purpose UNIX workstations. An X‐windows application provides interactive control. A six‐interleaf spiral sequence is used for cardiac imaging and can acquire six images/s. A sliding window reconstruction achieves display rates of 16–20 images/s. This allows cardiac images to be acquired in real‐time, with minimal motion and flow artifacts, and without breath holding or cardiac gating. Abdominal images are acquired at over 2.5 images/s with spiral‐ring or circular echo‐planar sequences. Reconstruction rates are 8–10 images/s. Rapid localization in the abdomen is demonstrated with the spiral‐ring acquisition, whereas peristaltic motion in the small bowel is well visualized using the circular echo‐planar sequence.