Calculation of Zero-Crossing and Spin-Lattice Relaxation Time Pictures in Inversion Recovery NMR Imaging

A method is described which permits accurate pixel-by-pixel estimation of zero-crossing time t10 and spin-lattice relaxation time T1 images from a set of inversion recovery images with different inversion times. The method is effective when at least three inversion recovery images of a particular object sike are available, and does not require starting values or additional knowledge with respect to any of the NMR parameters involved. In the proposed method T1 is calculated from the zero-crossing time t10 of the inversion recovery curve for each point in the image, in a way analogous to the null-point determination of T1 in a conventional NMR experiment.