Abstract: A system includes a protocol optimization system which comprises a data store containing a plurality of optimized protocol definitions, a storage device containing machine instructions, and a computing resource to execute the machine instructions. The protocol optimization system is configured to, based on an input of an optimized protocol definition, access the data store to identify a scout magnetic resonance image (MRI) scan for an MRI scanner, a processing block mapped to the identified scout MRI scan, and a diagnostic scan and provide the identified scout MRI scan to the MRI scanner. Using the processing block, the protocol optimization system analyzes a resulting image upon performance of the scout MRI scan to compute a patient tissue attribute and, using the computed patient tissue attribute, to compute an optimized parameter value for the identified diagnostic scan. The protocol optimization system provides the optimized parameter value to the MRI scanner.