A noninvasive image measuring method of measuring internal organ/tissue
temperature using an MRI system. Temperature measurement insusceptible to
body motion and spatial variation of magnetic field is realized by
utilizing the position and size of a temperature change region as a
priori information to determine the phase distribution of the complex
magnetic resonance signal of water proton at a given temperature point
and by subtracting the phase distribution before the temperature change
estimated (self-referred) from the phase distribution in the peripheral
region for each pixel of the image, thereby eliminating the subtraction
process of image before and after temperature change. The precision of
temperature measurement can be enhanced by estimating a complex curved
surface formed of the peripheral region in each temperature change region
of the real-part and imaginary-part images of the complex magnetic
resonance signal, and calculating the phase difference between an
actually measured complex signal distribution and the estimated complex
signal distribution of the complex signal distribution for each pixel,
thereby reducing the estimation error due to phase transition from -.pi.
to +.pi. occurring in a phase distribution. Furthermore, temperature can
be measured through optimal imaging following up body motion by using an
optical positioning system in combination even if the part being measured
is shifted.