Abstract: In order to make an X-ray impinging position coincide with a fixed position from the beginning of a scan, in scanning a subject to be examined by an X-ray emitting/detecting apparatus, an X-ray focus position is predicted based on the temperature of an X-ray tube 20 prior to beginning the scan and scan conditions intended to be currently used, and the position of a collimator 22 or an X-ray detector 24 is adjusted so that the X-ray impinges upon a fixed position on the X-ray detector 24.

Abstract: In order to capture an image representing pulsation strength in moving velocity of an echo source, a moving velocity V of the echo source is detected based on the Doppler shift in an ultrasonic echo, and a pulsation strength P in the moving velocity V is detected at a pulsation detecting means 132 by a calculation that employs a value Vn of the moving velocity V at a current time phase and a value Vo of the moving velocity V at a past time phase.

Abstract: In order to provide a medical imaging method and apparatus and ultrasonic imaging method and apparatus in which the utility for a user is improved, a display area 904 open to the user is provided in the display screen for the medical image 902, and an external input image is displayed in the display area 904.

Abstract: In order to provide a good frequency property and good openness of a magnetic field space, there is provided a quadrature RF coil and RF magnetic field generating apparatus that comprises two RF coils facing each other, each of the RF coils comprising an annular closed loop 602 and a plurality of radial electric paths 604 inside the closed loop 602, and generates an RF magnetic field by quadrature-driving the two RF coils, and a magnetic, resonance imaging method and apparatus employing such an RF magnetic field generating apparatus.

Abstract: In order to mitigate the feeling of confinement experienced by a subject (patient) and improve the S/N ratio of an MRI coil when used as a head coil, there is provided an MRI coil 10 comprising a pair of opposing coils 1 and 2 whose coil surfaces face each other with an imaging space interposed, and a quadrature coil 3 which has a coil surface orthogonal to the coil surfaces of the opposing coils 1 and 2 and surrounds the imaging space. When the MRI coil 10 is used as a head coil, the quadrature coil 3 is fitted over the eyes of a subject H, and the opposing coils 1 and 2 are positioned near the ears of the subject H.

Abstract: In order to generate an RF magnetic field efficiently, an RF coil is used comprising electric paths 612 carrying electric current for generating the RF magnetic field within a space containing a subject, and an annular electric path 614 located farther from the subject than the electric paths 612 from the subject, for linking respective ends of the electric paths 612.

Abstract: With the intention of making the image display swiftly responsive to the operator's action of altering the window level and/or window width, the contents of the image pixel data to display data conversion table are revised only in its range from a start point &agr; to an end point &bgr; calculated as follows, instead of the revision of the entire contents of conversion table: &agr;=max{Rmin, min(WL1−WW1/2, WL2−WW2/2)} &bgr;=min{Rmax, max(WL1+WW1/2, WL2+WW2/2)} where max{ } is the function of selecting the maximum value, min{ } is the function of selecting the minimum value, Rmin is the lower limit of the revision range, Rmax is the upper limit of the revision range, WL1 is an original window level, WW1 is an original window width, WL2 is a new window level, and WW2 is a new window width.

Abstract: In order to provide a quadrature RF coil having a good frequency property, and a magnetic resonance imaging method and apparatus employing such an RF coil, in combining two coil loops comprising main paths 602, 604 (612, 614) connected in series via tie paths 606, 608 (616, 618) with the main paths 602, 604 (612, 614) orthogonally crossed, the tie paths 606, 608 (616, 618) are made not to overlap one another.

Abstract: In order to mitigate the feeling of confinement experienced by a subject (patient) and improve the SIN ratio of an MRI coil when used as a head coil, there is provided an MRI coil 10 comprising a pair of opposing coils 1 and 2 whose coil surfaces face each other with an imaging space interposed, and a quadrature coil 3 which has a coil surface orthogonal to the coil surfaces of the opposing coils 1 and 2 and surrounds the imaging space. When the MRI coil 10 is used as a head coil, the quadrature coil 3 is fitted over the eyes of a subject H, and the opposing coils 1 and 2 are positioned near the ears of the subject H.

Abstract: In order to simultaneously display surface and internal conditions, an endoscope mode three-dimensional (3D) image T is displayed along with a peripheral image C which is a tomographic image of the periphery of the 3D image T. Moreover, in order to display reference images synchronously with change of field-of-view direction, a tomographic image in a cross section perpendicular to the field-of-view direction line is produced and displayed as a synchro axial image.

Abstract: In order to mitigate the feeling of confinement experienced by a subject (patient) and improve the S/N ratio of an MRI coil when used as a head coil, there is provided an MRI coil 10 comprising a pair of opposing coils 1 and 2 whose coil surfaces face each other with an imaging space interposed, and a quadrature coil 3 which has a coil surface orthogonal to the coil surfaces of the opposing coils 1 and 2 and surrounds the imaging space. When the MRI coil 10 is used as a head coil, the quadrature coil 3 is fitted over the eyes of a subject H, and the opposing coils 1 and 2 are positioned near the ears of the subject H.

Abstract: In order to provide a magnetic field stabilization method, magnetic field generating apparatus and magnetic resonance imaging apparatus that is not affected by the temperature distribution in an installation space, in stabilizing a magnetic field of a magnetic field generating apparatus 2 having a pair of permanent magnets facing each other with a space interposed and yokes constituting a magnetic circuit for the permanent magnets, heat quantities to be applied to a plurality of positions are individually controlled (172, 174) based on the temperatures detected at a plurality of positions 154, 158 on the yoke to stabilize the respective temperatures at the plurality of positions.

Abstract: For the accurate measurement of the phase shift of echos caused by the inference of the eddy current and residual magnetization attributable to the encode gradient and the like, the measuring process includes the steps of emitting an excitation pulse R, emitting an inversion pulse P1, applying an encode gradient gyn to the phase axis, applying a read gradient gxr, which is the former half of the usual read gradient, to the read axis, applying a rewind gradient gyrn in which a compensation pulse gypn is put to the phase axis, emitting an inversion pulse P2, applying a dephaser gradient gywdn to the phase axis, sampling data from the echo echo2 while applying a readout gradient gywn to the phase axis, evaluating the phase shift value of the echo2 caused by the influence of the encode gradient gyn and rewind gradient gyrn based on phase data resulting from the first-order Fourier transform for the sampled data, determining the correction value from the resulting phase shift value, revising the compensation pulse

Abstract: In order that an image observed last is ensured to be re-displayed even if an operator inadvertently misses a command to save the image before releasing freeze, an image save processing is activated when the operator commands freeze during cine display, and the latest freeze-displayed image is tagged with a last mark by the image save processing (Step R2). The image tagged with the last mark is automatically saved.

Abstract: In order to perform diagnosis of corpulence of the internal organs in a practical level, there is provided an X-ray CT apparatus in which, after an operator specifies a minimum CT value and a maximum CT value for a fat portion and specifies one point in a subcutaneous fat region, subcutaneous fat pixels and visceral fat pixels are automatically retrieved, the area ratio thereof is automatically calculated, histograms of CT values of the subcutaneous fat pixels and the visceral fat pixels are automatically generated, and then fat region images Gs and Gv, the area ratio, and the histograms Hs and Hv are displayed on the same screen.

Abstract: In order to choke a capillary vessel of a man with an expanded microballoon, a microballoon 1 is injected into a blood flow system of a man 12, and the microballoon 1 is expanded by warming a predefined region 13 in the man to increase the temperature of the region.

Abstract: In order to prevent the extremity ends of the flexible members from striking against the side surfaces of the inspected body mounting table when the flexible members are developed, there is provided a radio frequency coil having a pair of flexible base plates FXB in which the cylinder is formed under a state of free ends of these pair of flexible base plates and they are developed into a sheet under a state of not connecting the free ends from each other, wherein there are provided the shape defining members FRM installed at a side inside the cylinder from the fixed ends of the flexible base plates to their free ends, and the sheet ENV applied at the inner side of the cylinder from the fixed ends to the free ends of the flexible base plates.

Abstract: In order to obtain an image of a microballoon contrast agent with sharpness, the invention comprises means for generating ultrasound 522 by thermally exciting the microballoon contrast agent infused in a subject to cause the microballoons to resonate, and means for producing an image 514 based on the generated ultrasound.

Abstract: In order to reduce ghosts due to increasing echo intensity fall-off in the course of an echo train in MR imaging employing the FSE method, the present method assigns individual echoes in the echo train to respective segments to acquire data F(S1-S3), then assigns individual echoes arranged in the reverse order to the respective segments so that the order of signal intensity magnitude in the data F is inverted, to acquire data R(S4-S5), adds the data F and R for each view, and produces an image from the sum data. The number of echoes in the echo train is preferably selected to be an even number.

Abstract: In order to provide a magnetic resonance imaging method and apparatus which avoids artifacts due to the motion of a subject when the imaging is conducted with the interval between time phases reduced, a two-dimensional Fourier space is divided into a plurality of regions A,A'-D,D' symmetrically with respect to the frequency axis kx, and data acquisitions for the peripheral regions B and B', C and C', and D and D' are sequentially conducted with the data acquisition for the central regions A and A' interposed each time. At this time, the data acquisition is conducted alternately for each TR in a pair of symmetric regions, thereby minimizing the time difference between symmetric data.