Image formation 1: k-space Flashcards
How do you visualise phase?
Imagining a vector V of magnitude A rotating at a constant rate
What is the component of the vector in the x direction?
(co)sine wave
What is the phase of the wave?
The angle the vector makes with the axis at time t=0
How are pixels arranged in an MR image?
rows and columns in a matrix
What does each pixel in the reconstructed image contain?
A number related to signal intensity (location in the computer memory)
What does matrix control?
Not only image size but also raw data space (k-space)
What happens each time the sequence is repeated?
A full line of k-space is acquired
- Frequency encode direction [ x-direction]
This is repeated for every line in the phase encode [y-direction]
What happens as sequence is acquired?
K-space if filled line by line
What does the phase encode matrix define?
How many times the sequence must be repeated and therefore acquisition time
What doesn’t frequency encode matrix have?
Effect on scan time
• In each direction of pixel size = FOV/matrix
- E.g. PE pixel size = PE FOV/PE matrix
* E.g. FE pixel size = FE FOV/FE matrix
What is k-space?
Array of numbers representing spatial frequencies in the MR image
What is each star in k-space?
data point derived directly from MR signal
What does all the points in k-space contain?
Little information about every voxel
What does each individual point in image space depend on?
All of the points contained in k-space
What does k-space data related to?
Image data by Fourier Transform
How are the cells of k-space commonly displayed?
Rectangular grid with principal axes kx and ky
What does kx and ky axes of k-space correspond to?
Horizontal to horizontal and vertical axes of the image
What does k-axes represent?
spatial frequencies in the x- and y- directions rather than positions
What does individual points (kx,ky) in k-space do not correspond to?
one-to-one with individual pixels in image
What does each k-space point contain?
spatial frequency and phase information about every pixel in the final image
What does each pixel in image map to?
every point in k-space
What does the centre of k-space contain?
signal-to-noise and contrast information
What does data from the edges of k-space contain?
Information about resolution (edges and boundaries)
What happens when a frequency encoding gradient is applied during evolution of MR signal?
successive data points in the echo reflect progressively increasing spatial frequencies
What is Free Induction Decay (FID)?
The signal unaffected by any gradient
What is the time constant that determines the rate of decay?
T2
What does FID not have?
Positional information
What does FID induce?
A current in the receiver coil at the Larmor frequency
How can you think voltage as?
pure sine wave at f0 , modul0ated by much lower frequency signals that represent the slight differences in resonant frequency caused by
• applied gradients
• inherent susceptibility
• magnet inhomogeneity, etc.
Why are magnetic field gradients required?
Translate signals into seperate locations
What are magnetic field gradient?
Variations in the magnetic field with respect to position
What is a one-dimensional magnetic field gradient?
Variation with respect to one direction