Multiprocessor scheduling implementation of the simultaneous multiple volume (SMV) navigator method.

The simultaneous multiple volume (SMV) approach in navigator-gated MRI allows the use of the whole motion range or the entire scan time for the reconstruction of final images by simultaneously acquiring different image volumes at different motion states. The motion tolerance range for each volume is kept small, thus SMV substantially increases the scan efficiency of navigator methods while maintaining the effectiveness of motion suppression. This article reports a general implementation of the SMV approach using a multiprocessor scheduling algorithm. Each motion state is regarded as a processor and each volume is regarded as a job. An efficient scheduling that completes all jobs in minimal time is maintained even when the motion pattern changes. Initial experiments demonstrated that SMV significantly increased the scan efficiency of navigator-gated MRI.