Patents by Inventor Ulrich Heinen

Ulrich Heinen 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).

  • Patent number: 10215826
    Abstract: An MPI-apparatus comprising a magnet system for generating a time-varying and position-dependent magnetic field and a detection system detecting signals from MPI contrast agents exposed to said magnetic field within a detection volume, said signals being suitable for reconstructing an image of the spatial and temporal distribution of said MPI contrast agents, is characterized in that the magnet system comprises an array with a plurality of permanent magnetic elements geometrically arranged in such a way that at least a part of the plurality of permanent magnetic elements are moved with sufficient speed in the vicinity of the detection volume to create the spatial and temporal magnetic field variations for inducing within the contrast agent the MPI signals recorded by the detection system. This avoids the high power requirements of current MPI scanners, while opening the way for higher spatial resolutions and variable scanning frequencies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: Bruker BioSpin MRI GmbH
    Inventors: Ulrich Heinen, Jochen Franke
  • Patent number: 10172587
    Abstract: A phantom system has a housing (2) with a lower part (3) having an opening in the z-direction and a cover part (4) for closing the opening of the housing (2). A first plate-shaped insert element (10a) has at least one depression (11a) for receiving a liquid substance. The lower part (3) and the cover part (4) delimit a cavity (5) with an insert area (8), which is constituted to receive the first insert element (10a). A first sealing element (14a) seals the first insert element (10a) against the cavity (5) and a fixing facility fixes the first insert element (10a) in the cavity (4) of the housing (2) in an operating state of the MPI phantom. The phantom permits good contrast in MPI, MRI, or ?CT using liquid contrast media.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2019
    Assignee: Bruker BioSpin MRI GmbH
    Inventors: Jochen Franke, Ulrich Heinen
  • Patent number: 9651637
    Abstract: A method related to Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) includes a signal processing step in which MPI time signals are acquired and successive acquisition cycles are completed within one scanning period. From the scanning period, an image acquisition period is selected for which a composite time signal is generated by concatenating measured values acquired in immediate succession. A corrected time signal is determined from the composite time signal by windowing, performing a Fourier transform, and reducing a number of frequency values by eliminating intermediate frequencies of the Fourier transform of the windowed, composite time signal. In a reconstruction step, a spatial assignment and/or distribution of the magnetic particles is computed, and in an outputting step, the results of the reconstruction and/or one or more parameters derived therefrom are stored and/or displayed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: Bruker BioSpin MRI GmbH
    Inventors: Alexander Weber, Ulrich Heinen
  • Publication number: 20170108560
    Abstract: A method related to Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) includes a signal processing step in which MPI time signals are acquired and successive acquisition cycles are completed within one scanning period. From the scanning period, an image acquisition period is selected for which a composite time signal is generated by concatenating measured values acquired in immediate succession. A corrected time signal is determined from the composite time signal by windowing, performing a Fourier transform, and reducing a number of frequency values by eliminating intermediate frequencies of the Fourier transform of the windowed, composite time signal. In a reconstruction step, a spatial assignment and/or distribution of the magnetic particles is computed, and in an outputting step, the results of the reconstruction and/or one or more parameters derived therefrom are stored and/or displayed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2016
    Publication date: April 20, 2017
    Inventors: Alexander WEBER, Ulrich HEINEN
  • Publication number: 20160278735
    Abstract: A phantom system has a housing (2) with a lower part (3) having an opening in the z-direction and a cover part (4) for closing the opening of the housing (2). A first plate-shaped insert element (10a) has at least one depression (11a) for receiving a liquid substance. The lower part (3) and the cover part (4) delimit a cavity (5) with an insert area (8), which is constituted to receive the first insert element (10a). A first sealing element (14a) seals the first insert element (10a) against the cavity (5) and a fixing facility fixes the first insert element (10a) in the cavity (4) of the housing (2) in an operating state of the MPI phantom. The phantom permits good contrast in MPI, MRI, or ?CT using liquid contrast media.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2016
    Publication date: September 29, 2016
    Inventors: Jochen Franke, Ulrich Heinen
  • Publication number: 20160216353
    Abstract: An MPI-apparatus comprising a magnet system for generating a time-varying and position-dependent magnetic field and a detection system detecting signals from MPI contrast agents exposed to said magnetic field within a detection volume, said signals being suitable for reconstructing an image of the spatial and temporal distribution of said MPI contrast agents, is characterized in that the magnet system comprises an array with a plurality of permanent magnetic elements geometrically arranged in such a way that at least a part of the plurality of permanent magnetic elements are moved with sufficient speed in the vicinity of the detection volume to create the spatial and temporal magnetic field variations for inducing within the contrast agent the MPI signals recorded by the detection system. This avoids the high power requirements of current MPI scanners, while opening the way for higher spatial resolutions and variable scanning frequencies.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2016
    Publication date: July 28, 2016
    Inventors: Ulrich Heinen, Jochen Franke