Pianissimo, a revolutionary gradient acoustic noise reduction technology
In high field MRI, acoustic noise is typically one of the unwanted features. In the pursuit of high quality images with very fast scan times, MRI noise is quite loud. This is a result of the gradient magnetic field that must operate at extremely high speeds. Some measures are known to be taken, such as earplugs and headphones for the patient, active noise cancellation technology and a silent sequence. All of these have their shortcomings and often decrease the chances of a successful scan.
Finding a solution to this problem was a challenge. Toshiba developed a noise reduction technology that does not affect image quality or scan time. It is named Pianissimo - because of its parallels to music - meaning 'very softly' or 'very quietly'.
The Atlas coil concept, a dramatical improvement of the workflow.
In common MRI applications each examination required a dedicated coil. Consequently the coils needs to be exchange frequently, jeopardizing the workflow. Therefore Toshiba took a very close look to the individual functions of these coils and created the Atlas coil concept that contains coils for the three basic acquisition area's: head, anterior and posterior body. These coils are designed in such a way that they can be seamless combined for cross boundary acquisitions.
Fresh Blood Imaging (FBI)
FBI is an MR-Angio technique that does not use any contrast media. Therefore it is the ideal alternative for conventional MR Angio techniques that require contrast. With exceptional sensitivity to slow flow, FBI is particularly well-suited for evaluating peripheral vascular diseases of the lower extremities. Based on an ECG gated 3D FASE (Fast Advanced Spin Echo) technique, it acquires arterial and venous flow in a single coronal pass requiring less scan time than other MRA techniques. It also eliminates sensitivity to issues like improper timing, turbulent flow and differential filling that can cause contrast-based MRA to fail.
TimeSLIP
Another MR-Angio technique that does not require contrast media is Time-SLIP. It is an imaging technique that uses a Spatial Labeling Inversion Pulse. Time-SLIP can be applied to many regions of the body and used for evaluating hemodynamic velocity functional assessments and visualization of vascular structures. Based on the Arterial Spin Labeling technique, it employs spatially, non-selective IR pulses and spatially selective tag pulses to reveal regions excited as bright or black blood and can be used with FASE or TRUE SSFP sequences in gated, two- and three-dimensional acquisitions.
JET Motion Artefact suppression
JET acquires the data for the k-space in non-cartesian mode and suppresses motion artifacts by detecting and correcting for in-plane motion using the data for the central part of the k-space, which is acquired repeatedly. This application can suppress not only image artifacts in patients who are unable to remain still during scanning but also artifacts due to involuntary motion such as CSF flow. It is applicable to all anatomical regions and can be acquired in all scan planes.