Patents by Inventor Ek Tsoon Tan

Ek Tsoon Tan has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20240085509
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method includes: generating a set of simulated diffusion signals based on a corresponding set of diffusion sampling parameters and a corresponding set of micro structural model parameters, wherein the diffusion sample parameters correspond to magnetic resonance (MR) parameters, and wherein the microstructural model parameters characterizing a microscopic diffusion with a spatial orientation; processing the set of simulated diffusion signals based on the corresponding set of diffusion sampling parameters to generate a first set of output metrics, wherein the first set of output metrics are associated with the spatial orientation; consolidating multiple sets of output metrics into a dictionary, wherein each set of the multiple sets of output metrics are generated by processing a corresponding set of simulated diffusion signals and associated with a corresponding spatial orientation; applying the dictionary to a set of acquired diffusion MR signals; and generating at least one macroscopic
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 14, 2021
    Publication date: March 14, 2024
    Inventors: Darryl B. Sneag, Ek Tsoon Tan
  • Publication number: 20230320612
    Abstract: Some implementations provide a method for imaging one or more peripheral nerves in a region of a subject, which method includes: introducing a dose of an iron-based agent into the subject, wherein the dose causes a reduction of a T2 relaxation time of the subject's blood; and acquiring, from a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, one or more fluid-sensitive MRI images of the region of the subject that has received the dose. The magnetic resonance (MR) signals from the subjects blood in the region is substantially reduced in response to the dose of the iron-based agent.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 3, 2021
    Publication date: October 12, 2023
    Inventors: Darryl B. Sneag, Ek Tsoon Tan
  • Patent number: 11340323
    Abstract: The techniques discussed herein relate to a reduced acoustic noise and vibration magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquisition. In certain implementations acoustic noise levels for one or more MRI pulse sequences are characterized and modified by limiting the frequencies and amplitudes of the gradient waveforms so as to produce less noise and vibration when the modified waveform is used during an MRI examination. In this manner, relatively low sound pressure levels can be attained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Christopher Judson Hardy, Thomas Kwok-Fah Foo, Ek Tsoon Tan
  • Publication number: 20210208222
    Abstract: The techniques discussed herein relate to a reduced acoustic noise and vibration magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquisition. In certain implementations acoustic noise levels for one or more MRI pulse sequences are characterized and modified by limiting the frequencies and amplitudes of the gradient waveforms so as to produce less noise and vibration when the modified waveform is used during an MRI examination. In this manner, relatively low sound pressure levels can be attained.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2020
    Publication date: July 8, 2021
    Inventors: Christopher Judson Hardy, Thomas Kwok-Fah Foo, Ek Tsoon Tan
  • Patent number: 10684336
    Abstract: An imaging device may include a patient bore to house a subject to be imaged, wherein the patient bore includes one or more bore tubes. The imaging device may also include a gradient coil surrounding, at least partially, the patient bore and a radio frequency (RF) shield located outside the one or more bore tubes. Additionally, the imaging device may include an RF coil located within at least one of the bore tubes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2020
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Mark Ernest Vermilyea, Justin Michael Ricci, Christina Vasil, Ek Tsoon Tan, Eric William Fiveland, Yihe Hua, Thomas Kwok-Fah Foo
  • Publication number: 20200132792
    Abstract: An imaging device may include a patient bore to house a subject to be imaged, wherein the patient bore includes one or more bore tubes. The imaging device may also include a gradient coil surrounding, at least partially, the patient bore and a radio frequency (RF) shield located outside the one or more bore tubes. Additionally, the imaging device may include an RF coil located within at least one of the bore tubes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2018
    Publication date: April 30, 2020
    Inventors: Mark Ernest Vermilyea, Justin Michael Ricci, Christina Vasil, Ek Tsoon Tan, Eric William Fiveland, Yihe Hua, Thomas Kwok-Fah Foo
  • Patent number: 10551458
    Abstract: A magnetic resonance (MR) imaging method performed by an MR imaging system includes acquiring MR data in multiple shots and multiple acquisitions (NEX), separately reconstructing the component magnitude and phase of images corresponding to the multiple shots and multiple NEX, removing the respective phase from each of the images, and combining, after removal of the respective phase, the shot images and the NEX images to produce a combined image. The method further includes using the combined image to calculate the full k-space data for each shot and NEX and replacing unacquired k-space data points with calculated k-space data points. The operations are repeated until the combined image reaches a convergence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ek Tsoon Tan, Giang-Chau Ngo, Christopher Judson Hardy, Thomas Kwok-Fah Foo
  • Patent number: 10438355
    Abstract: A method for determining an arterial pulse wave velocity representative of a health condition of a blood vessel includes receiving an image data set comprising a plurality of images of a subject, from an imaging modality. The method also involves determining a blood vessel region in an image from the plurality of images. The method further includes determining a plurality of cross-sectional area values of a blood vessel at a plurality of locations in the blood vessel region, corresponding to a plurality of phases of a cardiac cycle of the subject and determining a plurality of flow rate values of blood flowing in the blood vessel corresponding to the plurality of cross-sectional area values. The method also includes determining a hemodynamic model based on the plurality of cross-sectional area values and the plurality of blood flow rate values and determining the arterial pulse wave velocity based on the hemodynamic model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2019
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Prem Venugopal, Thomas Kwok-Fah Foo, Christopher Judson Hardy, Ek Tsoon Tan
  • Patent number: 10324154
    Abstract: A magnetic resonance imaging method includes generating spatially resolved fiber orientation distributions (FODs) from magnetic resonance signals acquired from a patient tissue using a plurality of diffusion encodings, each acquired magnetic resonance signal corresponding to one of the diffusion encodings and being representative of a three-dimensional distribution of displacement of magnetic spins of gyromagnetic nuclei present in each imaging voxel. Generating the spatially resolved FODs includes performing generalized spherical deconvolution using the acquired magnetic resonance signals and a modeled tissue response matrix (TRM) to reconstruct the spatially resolved FODs. The method also includes using the spatially resolved FODs to generate a representation of fibrous tissue within the patient tissue.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2019
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Jonathan Immanuel Sperl, Christopher Judson Hardy, Luca Marinelli, Marion Irene Menzel, Ek Tsoon Tan
  • Publication number: 20190004132
    Abstract: A magnetic resonance (MR) imaging method performed by an MR imaging system includes acquiring MR data in multiple shots and multiple acquisitions (NEX), separately reconstructing the component magnitude and phase of images corresponding to the multiple shots and multiple NEX, removing the respective phase from each of the images, and combining, after removal of the respective phase, the shot images and the NEX images to produce a combined image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2017
    Publication date: January 3, 2019
    Inventors: Ek Tsoon Tan, Giang-Chau Ngo, Christopher Judson Hardy, Thomas Kwok-Fah Foo
  • Patent number: 9953397
    Abstract: A method implemented using at least one processor includes receiving a target image and a reference image. The target image is a distorted magnetic resonance image and the reference image is an undistorted magnetic resonance image. The method further includes selecting an image registration method for registering the target image to the reference image, wherein the image registration method uses an image transformation. The method further includes performing image registration of the target image with the reference image, wherein the image registration provides a plurality of optimized parameters of the image transformation. The method also includes generating a corrected image based on the target image and the plurality of optimized parameters of the image transformation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Ek Tsoon Tan, Xiaofeng Liu, Dan Xu
  • Patent number: 9897678
    Abstract: Systems and methods for correcting magnetic resonance (MR) data are provided. One method includes receiving the MR data and correcting errors present in the MR data due to non-uniformities in magnetic field gradients used to generate the diffusion weighted MR signals. The method also includes correcting errors present in the MR data due to concomitant gradient fields present in the magnetic field gradients by using one or more gradient terms. At least one of the gradient terms is corrected based on the correction of errors present in the MR data due to the non-uniformities in the magnetic field gradients.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2018
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ek Tsoon Tan, Christopher Judson Hardy, Kevin Franklin King, Zachary William Slavens, Luca Marinelli, Robert Marc Lebel
  • Patent number: 9720063
    Abstract: Systems and methods for generating a magnetic resonance (MR) image of a tissue are provided. A method includes acquiring MR raw data. The MR raw data corresponds to MR signals obtained at undersampled q-space locations for a plurality of q-space locations that is less than an entirety of the q-space locations and the MR signals at the q-space locations represent the three dimensional displacement distribution of the spins in the imaging voxel. The method also includes performing a joint image reconstruction technique on the MR raw data to exploit structural correlations in the MR signals to obtain a series of accelerated MR images and performing, for each image pixel in each accelerated MR image of the series of accelerated MR images, a compressed sensing reconstruction technique to exploit q-space signal sparsity to identify a plurality of diffusion maps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Jonathan Immanuel Sperl, Christopher Judson Hardy, Luca Marinelli, Ek Tsoon Tan, Kevin Franklin King, Marion Irene Menzel
  • Patent number: 9689950
    Abstract: A system and method of self-calibrated correction for residual phase in phase-contrast magnetic resonance (PCMR) imaging data. The method includes receiving PCMR image data from an MR scanner system, segmenting static tissue from non-static cardiovascular elements of the image data, calculating a non-linear fitted-phase basis function, the non-linear fitted-phase basis function based on system artifacts of the PCMR system, adding the non-linear fitted-phase basis function to linear fit terms, and subtracting the result of the adding step from the PCMR imaging data. The system includes a PCMR scanning apparatus configured to provide PCMR image data, a scanner control circuit configured to control the scanning apparatus during image acquisition, the scanner control circuitry in communication with a control processor, the control processor configured to execute computer-readable instructions that cause the control processor to perform the method. A non-transitory computer-readable medium is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Christopher Judson Hardy, Anja Christina Sophie Brau, Ek Tsoon Tan
  • Publication number: 20170132788
    Abstract: A method for determining an arterial pulse wave velocity representative of a health condition of a blood vessel includes receiving an image data set comprising a plurality of images of a subject, from an imaging modality. The method also involves determining a blood vessel region in an image from the plurality of images. The method further includes determining a plurality of cross-sectional area values of a blood vessel at a plurality of locations in the blood vessel region, corresponding to a plurality of phases of a cardiac cycle of the subject and determining a plurality of flow rate values of blood flowing in the blood vessel corresponding to the plurality of cross-sectional area values. The method also includes determining a hemodynamic model based on the plurality of cross-sectional area values and the plurality of blood flow rate values and determining the arterial pulse wave velocity based on the hemodynamic model.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 10, 2015
    Publication date: May 11, 2017
    Inventors: Prem Venugopal, Thomas Kwok-Fah Foo, Christopher Judson Hardy, Ek Tsoon Tan
  • Publication number: 20160334489
    Abstract: A magnetic resonance imaging method includes generating spatially resolved fiber orientation distributions (FODs) from magnetic resonance signals acquired from a patient tissue using a plurality of diffusion encodings, each acquired magnetic resonance signal corresponding to one of the diffusion encodings and being representative of a three-dimensional distribution of displacement of magnetic spins of gyromagnetic nuclei present in each imaging voxel. Generating the spatially resolved FODs includes performing generalized spherical deconvolution using the acquired magnetic resonance signals and a modeled tissue response matrix (TRM) to reconstruct the spatially resolved FODs. The method also includes using the spatially resolved FODs to generate a representation of fibrous tissue within the patient tissue.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 13, 2015
    Publication date: November 17, 2016
    Inventors: Jonathan Immanuel Sperl, Christopher Judson Hardy, Luca Marinelli, Marion Irene Menzel, Ek Tsoon Tan
  • Patent number: 9349186
    Abstract: The system and method of the invention combines target image intensity into a maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) framework as in STAPLE to take advantage of both intensity-based segmentation and statistical label fusion based on atlas consensus and performance level, abbreviated iSTAPLE. The MLE framework is then solved using a modified expectation-maximization algorithm to simultaneously estimate the intensity profiles of structures of interest as well as the true segmentation and atlas performance level. The iSTAPLE greatly extends the use of atlases such that the target image need not have the same image contrast and intensity range as the atlas images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Xiaofeng Liu, John Frederick Schenck, Ek Tsoon Tan, Albert Amos Montillo
  • Publication number: 20160071269
    Abstract: A method implemented using at least one processor includes receiving a target image and a reference image. The target image is a distorted magnetic resonance image and the reference image is an undistorted magnetic resonance image. The method further includes selecting an image registration method for registering the target image to the reference image, wherein the image registration method uses an image transformation. The method further includes performing image registration of the target image with the reference image, wherein the image registration provides a plurality of optimized parameters of the image transformation. The method also includes generating a corrected image based on the target image and the plurality of optimized parameters of the image transformation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 5, 2014
    Publication date: March 10, 2016
    Inventors: Ek Tsoon Tan, Xiaofeng Liu, Dan Xu
  • Publication number: 20160054410
    Abstract: In embodiments of the invention, the habenulae have been identified and localized in normal volunteers. Aspects of the invention determine the location, volume and magnetic susceptibility of the habenulae. Furthermore, diagnosing and monitoring patient disorders are enabled using the herein disclosed methodologies and techniques.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 14, 2015
    Publication date: February 25, 2016
    Inventors: John Frederick Schenck, Ek Tsoon Tan, Dominic Michael Graziani, Suresh Emmanuel Devadoss Joel
  • Patent number: 9255979
    Abstract: A method for measuring diffusional anisotropy in diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. The method includes determining an orientation diffusion function (ODF) for one or more fibers within a single voxel, wherein the ODF includes lobes representative of a probability of diffusion in a given direction for the one or more fibers. The method also includes characterizing an aspect ratio of the lobes. The method further includes determining a multi-directional anisotropy metric for the one or more fibers based on the aspect ratio of the lobes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2016
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ek Tsoon Tan, Christopher Judson Hardy, Luca Marinelli