IMAGE GUIDED NOISE TOMOGRAPHY FOR INCREASED SPECIFICITY OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING

A method for increasing the specificity of an MR image using noise correlation measurements is presented. From an MR image different regions within the body are identified based on contrast. Noise signals measured at the ports of the experimental setup are functions of the conductivity at each region and the sensitivity map of the field probes. For a simulated sensitivity map, the ratio of conductivities of two regions of a phantom containing saline and distilled water was determined from the measured noise correlation at the ports.