Gradient coil design with enhanced shielding constraint for a cryogen-free superconducting MRI system

Yaohui Wang; Weimin Wang; Hui Liu; Shunzhong Chen; Feng Liu; Qiuliang Wang

Magnetic Resonance Letters (Feb 2024)

Gradient coil design with enhanced shielding constraint for a cryogen-free superconducting MRI system

Yaohui Wang,
Weimin Wang,
Hui Liu,
Shunzhong Chen,
Feng Liu,
Qiuliang Wang

Affiliations

Yaohui Wang: Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; School of Electronic, Electrical and Communication Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; Corresponding author. Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
Weimin Wang: School of Electronics & Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Peking University & Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, 518055, China; Corresponding author.
Hui Liu: Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
Shunzhong Chen: Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; School of Electronic, Electrical and Communication Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Feng Liu: School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
Qiuliang Wang: Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; School of Electronic, Electrical and Communication Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; Corresponding author. Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 4, no. 1
p. 100086

Abstract

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The relatively fragile low-temperature stability of cryogen-free superconducting magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) magnets requires the careful management of exogenous heat sources. A strongly shielded gradient magnetic field is important for the optimal operation of cryogen-free MRI systems. In this study, we present an enhanced shielding method incorporating a regionalized stray field constraining strategy. By optimizing the constraint parameters, we could develop engineering-feasible gradient coil schemes without increasing system complexity but with the stray field intensity reduced by half. In real measurement in an integrated MRI system, the developed gradient assembly demonstrated good performance and supported to output images of excellent quality. Our findings suggested that the proposed method could potentially form a useful design paradigm for cryogen-free MRI magnets.

Published in Magnetic Resonance Letters

ISSN: 2097-0048 (Print); 2772-5162 (Online)
Publisher: KeAi Communications Co. Ltd.
Country of publisher: China
LCC subjects: Science: Chemistry: Physical and theoretical chemistry; Science: Chemistry: Analytical chemistry
Website: https://www.keaipublishing.com/en/journals/magnetic-resonance-letters/

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