基于目标场点法和流函数的磁共振有源匀场线圈设计方法

磁场均匀性是磁共振系统的重要参数,提高磁场均匀性有助于磁共振时域信号的检测和磁共振频域信号分辨率的改善.基于有源匀场连续电流密度分布的思想,采用目标场点法和流函数结合的方法设计匀场线圈,即由毕奥-萨伐尔定律确定磁场分布与电流密度的关系,约束线圈半径和设置约束点后,根据目标场分布逆向求解线圈平面的电流密度分布,再用流函数将电流密度分布离散化处理,得到匀场线圈的绕线位置分布.根据电磁仿真计算结果制作包含一阶与二阶匀场线圈应用于磁共振分析仪,实验验证表明该匀场线圈能有效地改善永磁体核磁共振系统磁场的均匀性.     

短腔、自屏蔽磁共振成像超导磁体系统的混合优化设计方法

本文提出一种用于短腔、自屏蔽磁共振成像超导磁体系统的混合优化设计方法,通过结合线性规划和非线性优化算法,设计出的磁体系统具有建造成本低、结构简单、以及线圈中最高磁场、电流安全裕度和电磁应力可控等优点.首先,通过线性规划算法在欲布置线圈空间范围内建立二维连续网格划分,搜索满足磁场约束条件的网格电流分布图;其次,将电流分布图中的非零电流簇离散成螺线管线圈,通过非线性优化算法计算出满足成像区域磁场均匀度要求、5 Gs杂散场限制、线圈中最高磁场限制、电流安全裕度以及线圈间尺寸间隔等约束条件的线圈结构参数.文中给出一个中心磁场为1.5T自屏蔽磁共振成像超导磁体系统的设计案例,在50 cm球形成像区域所产生的磁场峰峰值不均匀度为10 ppm,线圈最大长度为1.32 m.该设计方法可用于对称、非对称螺线管线圈系统以及开放式双平面线圈系统的磁共振成像磁体系统设计.     

使用改进的形状优化方法设计高均匀度的超导MRI磁体

针对设计带铁磁的超导磁共振成像磁体,提出了一种确定类的优化算法来优化极靴的形状以达到匀场的目的。这种方法集合了灵敏度分析、形状优化的理论和有限元方法计算非线性铁磁材料极靴的配置,来改善两个极靴之间大体积成像区的磁场均匀度。需要指出的是,本优化方法不受极靴初始形状的限制,均可以快速收敛。我们通过一个紧凑型的1.2T双平面磁共振磁体,展示了这种方法。     

开放式自屏蔽全身成像高场超导MRI磁体优化设计

本文发展了开放式自屏蔽全身成像高场超导磁共振成像（MRI）磁体的优化设计方法,使设计出来的磁体仅有4 对超导线圈. 这种开放结构的超导MRI磁体优化设计方法集成了线性规划算法和遗传算法. 通过迭代线性规划算法可以在考虑成像区域（DSV）磁感应强度约束、磁场不均匀度约束、5 Gs线范围约束、线圈区域最大磁场值约束和最大环向应力约束的条件下,获得用线量最少的线圈初始形状和位置,同时可以得到每个线圈的层数和每层匝数;通过遗传算法可以提高DSV区域的磁场不均匀度,以达到高质量成像的要求. 这种集成的优化设计方法既可以灵活有效的设计开放式MRI磁体,也可以设计传统的圆柱形MRI磁体,本文通过一个1.2 T的开放式MRI磁体的设计清楚的展示了这种优化方法. 关键词： 线性规划算法 遗传算法 自屏蔽 开放式超导MRI磁体     

开放式线圈屏蔽高场超导MRI磁体的优化设计

提出了开放式高场线圈屏蔽超导MRI磁体的混合优化设计方法,所设计的开放式MRI磁体仅有2对超导线圈。首先采用ISIGHT集成有限元分析软件ANSYS,构成协同式集成优化设计平台,设计磁体的主线圈和屏蔽线圈;然后提出改进的电磁场形状优化方法,设计磁体的匀场铁环,最后通过MATLAB运行遗传算法调用ANSYS进一步优化成像区域(Diameter of Spherical Volume,DSV)的磁场不均匀度,以达到高质量成像的要求。通过一个1.2T的开放式MRI磁体的设计实例清楚地展示了这种优化方法。     

目标场法在悬浮超导球体的球形线圈设计中的应用

文中把目标场法引入到悬浮超导球体的球形线圈设计中,根据目标场法产生均匀磁场的原理,通过离散化绕组来近似处理球形线圈在超导球体和球形线圈的间隙内产生均匀磁场的电流密度分布规律。利用有限元分析和验证,在超导球体与球形线圈之间的间隙内产生了具有很好均匀性的悬浮磁场,这会明显提高超导球体悬浮的刚度和稳定性。     

基于粒子群与遗传算法的矩阵式梯度线圈优化设计

磁共振成像系统中的梯度线圈产生用于选层、频率编码和相位编码的梯度磁场.目前常用的梯度线圈是通过目标场法设计得到的.近些年来,由多个形状相同的线圈组成的矩阵式梯度线圈的梯度磁场均匀度和功率等指标也达到了较为满意的效果.本文首先提出了一种基于粒子群与遗传算法的、适用于开放式永磁型磁共振成像系统的矩阵式梯度线圈设计方法.然后对三个方向上的矩阵梯度线圈的电流分布进行了设计,每个方向上的矩阵式梯度线圈系统由224个大小相同的圆形线圈组成.最后利用有限元仿真软件对设计方案进行仿真计算,得到x、y方向上的平均非均匀度为0.851%,z方向上的平均非均匀度为1.013%,验证了本文提出的方法的有效性.基于该方法可以有效快速地对开放式磁共振成像系统的矩阵梯度线圈进行设计.     

14T MRI大口径全身自屏蔽超导磁体的一种优化设计方法

磁共振成像(MRI)的磁体设计首先是确保中心成像区的场值和均匀性, 二是尽可能减少场值耗散的距离即漏磁5Gs 线. 基于此本文提出了一种线性与非线性规划联合优化的方法. 首先将导体作为基本单元, 在预布置线圈的空间范围内构建二维连续导体网格. 通过线性规划搜索满足磁场约束条件的网格电流分布图. 再将存在电流的网格离散为一个个矩形线圈区域, 在保证场值均匀性、 杂散场5 Gs 线范围以及线圈位置间隔、 导体超导线安全裕度的前提下利用非线性规划, 具体确定各个线圈的轴向和径向位置、 线圈内导体层数和各层匝数以及通电流大小等. 采用这种联合优化方法, 不仅节省优化时间, 还可以自行设计线圈形状有利于工程实现. 文中由此方法给出了14 T MRI 磁体的一种设计方案, 依靠4 组线圈使得45 cm 中心球形成像内不均匀度降低到5 ppm, 而高场耗散的5 Gs 线通过磁体自屏蔽减小到15 m 以内. 满足了设计的要求.     

一种实用的使用铁磁材料匀场的开放式超导MRI磁体的优化方法(英文)

磁共振成像(MRI)系统是一种重要的医学诊断设备。作者提出了一种针对使用铁磁材料匀场的开放式超导MRI主磁场匀场的优化方法。在这种方法中,为了使这种包含非线性铁磁轭结构的MRI磁体产生高均匀度的磁场,集成了改进的多输入多输出负反馈控制理论和有限元方法,来计算匀场区非线性铁磁材料的形状。特别要指出的是,这种方法对初始值的要求不高,一定可以收敛,如果配置得当,可以快速收敛。另外,由于收敛速度快,这种方法也可以应用于大型的非轴对称三维模型优化分析。在文中,作者在一个二维轴对称磁体模型上测试了该方法,表现良好。     

基于Pareto优化理论的多目标超椭梯度线圈设计

磁共振系统梯度线圈设计是一个多目标优化问题,在设计时需要综合考虑能耗、磁场能、线性度等设计要求.这些设计要求通常难以同时获得极小解,因此在设计梯度线圈时需要权衡线圈的各方面的设计需求.本文基于柱面可展性和流函数设计方法,结合Pareto优化方法实现了在超椭圆柱设计表面上梯度线圈的多目标设计.分别分析了磁场能、能耗目标对梯度线圈线性度、线圈构型的影响;并在Pareto解空间中分析各目标的相互变化关系,通过数值算例验证了该方法在超椭梯度线圈设计时的有效性与灵活性.优化结果显示,在满足线性度误差小于5%,能耗与磁场能分别小于用户设定值的设计约束下,梯度线圈的多目标设计存在多个局部优化解.该方法可以直观地比较相同目标函数值的情况下各单目标的具体表现,有利于实现不同的设计要求下梯度线圈的最终定型设计.     

Shim coil design for Halbach magnet by equivalent magnetic dipole method

Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance magnet(2 MHz) is required for rock core analysis. However, due to its low field strength, it is hard to achieve a high uniform B_0 field only by using the passive shimming. Therefore, active shimming is necessarily used to further improve uniformity for Halbach magnet. In this work, an equivalent magnetic dipole method is presented for designing shim coils. The minimization of the coil power dissipation is considered as an optimal object to minimize coil heating effect, and the deviation from the target field is selected as a penalty function term. The lsqnonlin optimization toolbox of MATLAB is used to solve the optimization problem. Eight shim coils are obtained in accordance with the contour of the stream function. We simulate each shim coil by ANSYS Maxwell software to verify the validity of the designed coils. Measurement results of the field distribution of these coils are consistent with those of the target fields.The uniformity of the B_0 field is improved from 114.2 ppm to 26.9 ppm after using these shim coils.     

Development of a temperature-variable magnetic resonance imaging system using a 1.0T yokeless permanent magnet

A temperature variable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system has been developed using a 1.0 T permanent magnet. A permanent magnet, gradient coils, radiofrequency coil, and shim coil were installed in a temperature variable thermostatic bath. First, the variation in the magnetic field inhomogeneity with temperature was measured. The inhomogeneity has a specific spatial symmetry, which scales linearly with temperature, and a single-channel shim coil was designed to compensate for the inhomogeneity. The inhomogeneity was drastically reduced by shimming over a wide range of temperature from −5 °C to 45 °C. MR images of an okra pod acquired at different temperatures demonstrated the high potential of the system for visualizing thermally sensitive properties.     

Planar Gradient Coil Design Using L1 and L2 Norms

We present a novel and general formulation for the optimisation of gradient coils, wherein the minimization of the conductor length and the simplicity of construction are two of the main design parameters. The bi-planar gradient coils are intended to be part of a new compact neonatal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner based on a 0.35 T permanent magnet. It is shown that minimizing the current density vector is equivalent to minimizing the wire length. The gradient coil design involves a convex optimization method where the Euclidian and Manhattan norms of the current density vector are minimized under the field linearity, wire width, force and shielding constraints. The design problem is solved iteratively in order to include the influence of the magnetization of the pole and iron ring over the gradient field linearity. A suite of gradient coils using both norms and resistance minimization are designed and their performances are compared. Gradient coils designed using Euclidian norm show shorter wire length and slightly better performance than that designed using Manhattan norms; however, the presence of straight wires in the current pattern is very convenient for manufacturing purpose.     

An Efficacious Target-Field Approach to Design Shim Coils for Halbach Magnet of Mobile NMR Sensors

The main magnetic fields of mobile nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) magnets differ from those of conventional NMR and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) magnets. In the Halbach magnet, the main field B ₀ is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the symmetry of the current distribution with respect to the symmetry of the magnetic field differs from that in conventional target-field applications, and the current distribution on the coil surface cannot be expressed in terms of periodic basis functions. To obtain the winding pattern of the coil, an efficacious target-field approach. The surface of a coil is divided into small discrete elements, where each element is represented by a magnetic dipole. From the stream function of the elements, the resultant magnetic field is calculated. The optimization strategy follows an objective function defined by the power dissipation or efficiency of the coil. This leads to the optimum stream function on the coil surface, whose contour lines define the winding patterns of the coil. This paper shows winding patterns designed of shim coils for Halbach magnet and illustrates the craft of a shim coil using flexible printed circuit board. The performance of the coils is verified by simulating the fields they produce over the sensitive volume.     

Combined passive and active shimming for in vivo MR spectroscopy at high magnetic fields

The use of high magnetic fields increases the sensitivity and spectral dispersion in magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of brain metabolites. Practical limitations arise, however, from susceptibility-induced field distortions, which are increased at higher magnetic field strengths. Solutions to this problem include optimized shimming, provided that active, i.e., electronic, shimming can operate over a sufficient range. To meet our shim requirements, which were an order of magnitude greater than the active shim capacity of our 7T MR system, we developed a combined passive and active shim approach. Simple geometries of ferromagnetic shim elements were derived and numerically optimized to generate a complete set of second-order spherical harmonic shim functions in a modular manner. The major goals of the shim design were maximization of shim field accuracy and ease of practical implementation. The theoretically optimized ferro-shim geometries were mounted on a cylindrical surface and placed inside the magnet bore, surrounding the subject's head and the RF coil. Passive shimming generated very strong shim fields and eliminated the worst of the field distortions, after which the field was further optimized by flexible and highly accurate active shimming. Here, the passive-shimming procedure was first evaluated theoretically, then applied in phantom studies and subsequently validated for in vivo 1H MRS in the macaque visual cortex. No artifacts due to the passive shim setup were observed; adjustments were reproducible between sessions. The modularity and the reduction to two pieces per shim term in this study is an important simplification that makes the method applicable also for passive shimming within single sessions. The feasibility of very strong, flexible and high-quality shimming via a combined approach of passive and active shimming is of great practical relevance for MR imaging and spectroscopy at high field strengths where shim power is limited or where shimming of specific anatomical regions inherently requires strong shim fields.     

Computer simulation studies of the effects of dynamic shimming on susceptibility artifacts in EPI at high field

Dynamic shimming in multi-slice imaging aims to achieve optimal magnetic field homogeneity by updating the shim coil currents for each slice in real time. Dynamic shimming may reduce the signal loss and geometric distortion caused by magnetic susceptibility variations between tissues and is likely to be valuable for fast T2*-sensitive imaging techniques like EPI. A computer simulation of dynamic shimming using real image data has been developed to demonstrate the effectiveness of higher order dynamic shimming for echo planar imaging at high magnetic field, and to investigate the potential benefits of different orders of shim coil. Geometric distortions and signal intensities for different degrees of dynamic shimming were simulated and the results are compared with the images obtained with a conventional shimming technique. These results demonstrate the effectiveness, necessity and difficulty of high order dynamic shimming.     

矩阵梯度线圈研究现状与发展趋势

梯度和匀场线圈性能的好坏直接影响磁共振成像质量．常规线圈在成像过程中存在一些固有的不足,如产生的磁场形态单一、不灵活,需要的线圈种类较多,结构较复杂等．而新型矩阵梯度线圈可以较好地弥补这些缺点．本文首先介绍了矩阵梯度线圈的概念及其特性,然后根据结构和功能对其研究现状进行分类汇总,在此基础上对矩阵线圈未来的发展趋势进行分析．此外,本文还对矩阵梯度线圈的前期研究基础进行了介绍．     

Dynamic multi-coil shimming of the human brain at 7 T

High quality magnetic field homogenization of the human brain (i.e. shimming) for MR imaging and spectroscopy is a demanding task. The susceptibility differences between air and tissue are a longstanding problem as they induce complex field distortions in the prefrontal cortex and the temporal lobes. To date, the theoretical gains of high field MR have only been realized partially in the human brain due to limited magnetic field homogeneity.A novel shimming technique for the human brain is presented that is based on the combination of non-orthogonal basis fields from 48 individual, circular coils. Custom-built amplifier electronics enabled the dynamic application of the multi-coil shim fields in a slice-specific fashion. Dynamic multi-coil (DMC) shimming is shown to eliminate most of the magnetic field inhomogeneity apparent in the human brain at 7 T and provided improved performance compared to state-of-the-art dynamic shim updating with zero through third order spherical harmonic functions. The novel technique paves the way for high field MR applications of the human brain for which excellent magnetic field homogeneity is a prerequisite.     

A novel approach to designing cylindrical-surface shimcoils for a superconducting magnet of magnetic resonance imaging

For a superconducting magnet of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the novel approach presented in this paper allows the design of cylindrical gradient and shim coils of finite length. The method is based on identification of the weighting of harmonic components in the current distribution that will generate a magnetic field whose z-component follows a chosen spherical harmonic function. Mathematical expressions which relate the harmonic terms in the cylindrical current distribution to spherical harmonic terms in the field expansion are established. Thus a simple matrix inversion approach can be used to design a shim coil of any order pure harmonic. The expressions providing a spherical harmonic decomposition of the field components produced by a particular cylindrical current distribution are novel. A stream function was applied to obtain the discrete wire distribution on the cylindrical-surface. This method does not require the setting of the target-field points. The discussion referring to matrix equations in terms of condition numbers proves that this novel approach has no ill-conditioned problems. The results also indicate that it can be used to design cylindrical-surface shim coils of finite length that will generate a field variation which follows a particular spherical harmonic over a reasonably large-sized volume.