Patents by Inventor Stephen Joseph Garnier

Stephen Joseph Garnier 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: 10718839
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus for correcting a uniformity of a magnetic resonance image, the method including: acquiring a first uniformity enhancement image by a phased-array uniformity enhancement method; and dividing the first uniformity enhancement image by a receiving sensitivity distribution value of a body coil in a magnetic resonance imaging device, so as to acquire a second uniformity enhancement image. The method further includes: dividing the second uniformity enhancement image by a spatial signal distribution value resulting from a field strength distribution of a transmitting radio-frequency field, so as to acquire a third uniformity enhancement image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2020
    Assignee: GE PRECISION HEALTHCARE LLC
    Inventors: Yongchuan Lai, Xiaoli Zhao, Weiwei Zhang, Stephen Joseph Garnier, Lisha Nie, Pengfei Lu, Hongbin Wang
  • Patent number: 10054658
    Abstract: A controller that is operatively connected with a magnet assembly, which defines a target volume; and an image processor, which is configured to obtain calibration data from the controller; map B1 transmit intensity from the magnet assembly to the target volume, based on the calibration data; calculate a B1 transmit shading correction based at least on the map of B1 transmit intensity and on pulse sequence parameters; obtain k-space data of an imaging subject within the target volume from the controller operating the magnet assembly based on the pulse sequence parameters; develop an MR image from the k-space data; and apply the B1 transmit shading correction to the MR image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2018
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Dawei Gui, Xiaoli Zhao, Zhenghui Zhang, Hao Shen, Stephen Joseph Garnier
  • Publication number: 20180120399
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus for correcting a uniformity of a magnetic resonance image, the method comprising: acquiring a first uniformity enhancement image by a phased-array uniformity enhancement method; and dividing the first uniformity enhancement image by a receiving sensitivity distribution value of a body coil in a magnetic resonance imaging device, so as to acquire a second uniformity enhancement image. The method may further comprise: dividing the second uniformity enhancement image by a spatial signal distribution value resulting from a field strength distribution of a transmitting radio-frequency field, so as to acquire a third uniformity enhancement image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2017
    Publication date: May 3, 2018
    Inventors: Yongchuan Lai, Xiaoli Zhao, Weiwei Zhang, Stephen Joseph Garnier, Lisha Nie, Pengfei Lu, Hongbin Wang
  • Publication number: 20160187438
    Abstract: A controller that is operatively connected with a magnet assembly, which defines a target volume; and an image processor, which is configured to obtain calibration data from the controller; map B1 transmit intensity from the magnet assembly to the target volume, based on the calibration data; calculate a B1 transmit shading correction based at least on the map of B1 transmit intensity and on pulse sequence parameters; obtain k-space data of an imaging subject within the target volume from the controller operating the magnet assembly based on the pulse sequence parameters; develop an MR image from the k-space data; and apply the B1 transmit shading correction to the MR image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2014
    Publication date: June 30, 2016
    Applicant: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: DAWEI GUI, XIAOLI ZHAO, ZHENGHUI ZHANG, HAO SHEN, STEPHEN JOSEPH GARNIER
  • Patent number: 8868153
    Abstract: A method includes obtaining a plurality of magnetic resonance (MR) coil images of a subject of interest, each MR coil image being generated from one of an array of MR receiving coils; combining the plurality of coil images to generate an image estimate of the subject of interest; performing a multichannel blind deconvolution (MBD) process including: deriving coil sensitivity information for every one of the array of MR receiving coils based on the image estimate or a filtered image estimate derived from the image estimate; updating the image estimate or the filtered image estimate using the derived coil sensitivity information to generate an updated image estimate; and applying a homomorphic filter to the image estimate to derive the filtered image estimate, or to the updated image estimate to derive a filtered updated image estimate, or a combination thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Dominic Michael Graziani, Christopher Judson Hardy, Ek Tsoon Tan, Stephen Joseph Garnier
  • Publication number: 20130281822
    Abstract: A method includes obtaining a plurality of magnetic resonance (MR) coil images of a subject of interest, each MR coil image being generated from one of an array of MR receiving coils; combining the plurality of coil images to generate an image estimate of the subject of interest; performing a multichannel blind deconvolution (MBD) process including: deriving coil sensitivity information for every one of the array of MR receiving coils based on the image estimate or a filtered image estimate derived from the image estimate; updating the image estimate or the filtered image estimate using the derived coil sensitivity information to generate an updated image estimate; and applying a homomorphic filter to the image estimate to derive the filtered image estimate, or to the updated image estimate to derive a filtered updated image estimate, or a combination thereof.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 19, 2012
    Publication date: October 24, 2013
    Applicant: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Dominic Michael Graziani, Christopher Judson Hardy, Ek Tsoon Tan, Stephen Joseph Garnier