Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Jian-Ming Jin
Electromagnetics Laboratory and
Magnetic Resonance Engineering Laboratory
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, Illinois 61801-2991
Tel: +1 (217) 244-0756
F a : +1 (217) 333-5962
E-mail: j -jin1@uiuc.edu
1. Abstract
I Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6, December 1998 1045-9243/98/$10.0001998IEEE 7
For many years, NMR was primarily used for spectroscopic RF SHIELDED ROOM
analysis, before Lauterbur proposed using it for imaging purposes
[l]. The basic principle of using NMR for imaging is pretty simple.
Since the energy difference between the two states of certain nuclei
in an external field depends on the strength of the external field,
this energy difference at each point in the object to be imaged can
be made different by varying the magnetic field from point to
point. As a result, the energy of the photons, or the frequency of
the electromagnetic fields absorbed or emitted by the nuclei, is also
different from point to point. This simple phenomenon provides a
basic foundation for all NMR imaging, although the actual imaging
method is more complicated. The number of imaging techniques f I
I
RFCOIL I
I
has blossomed since Lauterburs pioneering work. Technological GRADIENT COILS
developments have also increased the quality of NMR images. For MAGNET I1
example, the advent of superconducting magnets has made possi-
ble higher signal-to-noise ratios ( S N R ) and image resolutions than
---
were possible with resistive or permanent magnets. Modem com-
puters have made possible whole-volume imaging techniques,
which offer increased S N R and decreased image-acquisition times.
The distortions of the image due to unwanted effects, such as
motion, can be controlled using complex RF pulse sequences.
Advances in coil technology have improved image quality, and
Ill I
made techniques such as surface and microscopic imaging possi- GRADIENT RF PULSE DIGITIZER
1
PULSE
ble.
tz
MRI. Any desired field strength over 0.5 T practically requires the
use of superconducting magnets, despite their high cost and com-
plexity. Usually, the coil windings, made from an alloy such as
niobium-titanium, are cooled to temperatures below 20 Kelvin by
immersion in liquid helium, which has boiling point of 4.2 K. The
consequent loss of liquid helium can be very expensive. In addi-
tion, the magnet may "quench" if it gets too hot, and stop super-
conducting. However, the fields produced by a properly designed
superconducting magnet can be very strong, homogeneous, and
stable.
I
The design of resistive and superconducting magnets is based
on two well-known configurations in electromagnetics. The first
I
one is the so-called Helmholtz pair, which consists of two loops of
the same radius carrying the current in the same direction, as illus- 0 z=o
trated in Figure 3. It can be shown easily that when the distance
between the two loops equals the radius of the loops, the magnetic
field B, is uniform around z = 0 ,through the third power of z:
z=o
where d denotes the distance between the two loops. This can be
done by finding the expression for B, and setting its second
derivative with respect to z to zero (because of symmetry, all the
odd derivatives are zero at z = 0 ) . Naturally, one can achieve a
I
higher degree of homogeneity for B, by using two pairs of loops.
The optimal separations between the loops can be found by setting
both the second and fourth derivatives to zero. If one can allow dif-
ferent current strengths in the two pairs, the sixth derivative can
also be set to zero, to find the optimal current strengths. When this Figure 3. A Helmholtz coil pair.
procedure is extended to the case with N coil-pairs, the required
expression for the derivative of B, is given by
Once again, one can use more pairs to obtain a better gradi-
ent. In this case, the procedure involves properly selecting the
positions and current strengths of the pairs, such that the third,
fifth, and other higher-order odd derivatives can be systematically
removed. The required expression for the derivative of B, is given
by [21
I
Figure 5. A Maxwell coil pair. where Ndenotes the total number of pairs, un = z,,/d=, with
22, being the separation between the two loops of the nth pair, and
a 4 -directed surface current with sin 6 variation produces a per- qmiland 4m+2 are the Legendre polynomials of degree 2m+l
fectly homogeneous, z-directed magnetic field inside the sphere, as and 2m + 2 , respectively. For example, for the case of two coil-
illustrated in Figure 4. In reality, this perfect field cannot be pairs, one can select z, , z 2 , and the ratio 12/11to eliminate the
achieved, because, first, the continuous surface current must be third, fifth, and seventh derivatives [3]. The resultant magnetic
approximated by discrete currents, and, second, two openings must field is given by
be made at the ends of the sphere for the entry of the patient. The
inhomogeneity introduced by these modifications can be compen-
(7)
sated for by shim coils, as discussed above.
In an MRI system, the main magnet and a set of shim coils 4.2 Transverse gradients
produce a very homogeneous static magnetic field along the z
direction: the Bo field. To provide spatial information in MR The design of a transverse-gradient coil is, however, far more
images, the magnetic-field strength must be able to vary in a con- complicated than the design of a longitudinal one. A widely used
trollable manner. Such a variation is provided by a set of gradient configuration to produce a transverse gradient is the so-called dou-
coils, which produce magnetic fields with a z component that var- ble-saddle or Golay coil [4], sketched in Figure 6. The eight
ies linearly along the x,y , and z directions, respectively. The line- straight wires parallel to the z axis and the four outer arcs are used
arity of the gradient fields is measured by the constancy of gradi- to provide return paths. Since the wires parallel to the z axis do not
ents, defined as produce a z component of magnetic field, they do not affect the
gradient field. The outer arcs are placed far away from the center,
so their fields are negligible compared to those produced by the
10 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6,December 1998
inner arcs. A very tedious (yet completely derivable) analysis The Target Field Method begins with the specification of a
shows that when the angle subtended by each arc is 120" and the desired field-the target field-over a cylindrical surface with a
position of the arcs is zo = 2 . 5 7 ~or zo = 0.39u, B, becomes radius c that is less than the radius of the cylindrical surface carry-
ing the current. Let this field be denoted as B,(c,@,z). Substituting
it into Equation (9), and taking the Fourier transform of the resul-
tant equation, one obtains
m n
m n
2 , I
Equation (9) contains only j p ) ( k ) ,because j:")(k) is related to
j P ) ( k ) by
-0.5 -
1
0 2
A
3 4 5
Axial distance (da)
m m
Figure 8. The current distribution J 4 ( z ) for a longitudinal-
-m m=-m gradient coil.
IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6, December 1998 11
1.2, I 4.4 Shielded gradient coils
'
4o ' 6
-0.6 ~
t
~
rents in other conducting structures, which produce fields opposing
that of the gradient coil. As a result, the gradient homogeneity can
be degraded, and the rise and decay times of the switched field can
be increased. One solution to this problem is to adjust the voltage
4.2t" ' ' I ' ' " " ' ' ' 1 ' " ' I ' 1 ' ' I waveform so as to produce the desired current and thus the field
0 1 2 3 4 5 [7]. However, the eddy currents induced in other structures still
Axial distance ( d a ) exist, and their rise and decay times are determined by the induc-
tances of the structures. The field produced by these currents vary
Figure 9. The specified and realized transverse-gradient field.
in the same manner as the currents and, therefore, they can cause
problems for the imaging resolution and speed.
Note that the design procedure using the Target Field Method
is similar to that described in the preceding section. Figure 11 5. RF coils
shows the current distribution on the primary and shield coils of a
shielded longitudinal transverse-gradient coil. Shielded longitudi- RF coils, also known as RF resonators and RF probes, are
nal-gradient coils can be designed in a similar manner. key components in an MRI system, and serve two purposes. The
first is to generate RF pulses at the Larmor frequency, to excite the
4.5 Minimization of inductance and power dissipation nuclei in the object to be imaged. When a coil is used for this pur-
pose, it is often called an RF transmitter. The second is to pick up
In order to be able to switch the gradient coils on and off RF signals emitted by the nuclei at the same frequency. When a
quickly, the gradient coils must have an inductance as small as coil is used for this purpose, it is called an RF receiver. The mag-
possible. By definition, the inductance is given by netic field of the RF pulse generated by an RF transmitter is
IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6, December 1998 13
are most popular, because they can produce a very homogeneous
Figure 12a. An illustration of a high-pass birdcage coil. which is x-directed and, more importantly, is a constant! There-
fore, a z-directed surface current with sin4 variation produces a
uniform, or homogeneous, x-directed magnetic field inside the
cylinder.
The problem then becomes the design of a coil that will pro-
duce the current distribution in Equation (28) when it resonates.
For this, we consider the configuration sketched in Figure 12a,
which is called a high-pass birdcage coil. A simple analysis based
on Kirchhoff s voltage and current laws indicates that this coil has
N resonant modes, where N denotes the number of rungs. The cur-
rent in the ith rung is given by
m , 2 m ( 4 N
-2 sin -sin ~ m = 0,1,2,...,-
N N (30)
m 274-3) N
2sin -cos ~ m = 1,2,..., --1.
N N 2
It is clear that for the two modes having m = 1, the current varies
either as sin4 or cos4. According to the analysis described
Figure 12b. An illustration of a low-pass birdcage coil.
(i) 0.8
the end rings for the dominant mode are given in Figure 15, from U
which we see that the current distribution is very close to the .E 0.6
P)
cosine function, as predicted in the equivalent-circuit method. The 2 0.4
currents in the rungs are displayed in Figure 16 and, apparently, 0.2
they are very close to the sine function. The B1 fields in the three 0
planes are shown in Figure 17. 0.1
0.1
a 4
U
(FOV). A surface coil is particularly useful to obtain images and E35
spectra from tissues close to the surface [17]. m
2 3
25
Surface coils provide a higher S N R than a whole-body coil
2
because of their smaller sensitive region, which decreases the 01
amount of noise that is received from the sample. Unfortunately, 01
the usable FOV is also limited to the size of the sensitive region. In
clinical imaging, it is desirable to have a large FOV, because the
region of interest is often not known prior to the first scan. One z -0.15 -0.1
X
simple solution is to use a large coil, which has a lower S N R , or to
reposition a smaller coil and repeat the study, which is time con- Figure 17b. The B1 field of a high-pass birdcage coil in the xz
suming. Another solution is to use multiple coils or a coil array to plane.
provide a large region of sensitivity. Each coil is connected to an
independent preamplifier and receiver channel. The outputs from
x lo-
the receiver channels are combined in an optimum manner, with a
phase correction dependent on the point in space from which the
signal originated. In this way, one can obtain the high S N R of sur-
face coils and a large FOV usually associated with large coils,
uu
0.04
-0 05
z -0.15 4.1
4-
Y
G
5 elements 1, 6 Figure 17c. The Bl field of a high-pass birdcage coil in the yz
plane.
-0.04
without any penalty in imaging time. Such a coil array is named
-0.08 elements 7, 8
the NMR phased array [18]. Technical issues include how to
eliminate the interactions (mutual coupling) between coils with
overlapping FOVs (by overlapping adjacent coils and connecting
0 5 10 15 20 25
Length (cm) all coils to preamplifiers with a low input impedance), and how to
combine the data from the phased-array elements to yield an image
Figure 16. The currents of the dominant mode in the rungs of a with optimum S N R . The major disadvantage of a phased m a y is
high-pass birdcage coil. the high cost of the additional receiver channels. This is avoided in
16 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6,December 1998
Figure 18. The axial, sagittal, and coronal slices of the head model.
40
30
20
10
40
30
20
10
IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6,December 1998 17
the design proposed by Wright et al. [19], which uses RF time- neity of the problem. More importantly, it yields a sparse, symmet-
multiplexing to enable the use of multiple array elements with one rical matrix, which can be stored and solved efficiently. The two-
receiver channel. dimensional FEM that we have implemented can carry out one
simulation involving more than 10,000 unknowns within one min-
ute on a workstation.
6. FW fields in the human body
The Finite-Difference Time-Domain Method [35, 361 discre-
As discussed earlier, in MRI, the nuclei are excited by the RF tizes and solves directly the first-order Maxwells equations in time
magnetic field known as the Bl field. For MRI systems that use a domain. The major issue is the truncation of the computational
low (less than 0.5 T) static magnetic field, known as the Bo field, domain, as in FEM. It is found that the recently developed per-
the Larmor frequency and hence the frequency of the B1 field are fectly matched layer [37] (PML) is best suited for this purpose.
very low, and the dimension of a human body is only a small frac- The PML can be considered to be a uniaxial anisotropic medium
[381, having permittivity
tion of the wavelength. In such a case, the interaction between the
B1 field and the human body can be neglected, and the Bl field
; ;]
can be evaluated in the absence of the human body. Also, the elec- 0 0
tric field associated with the Bl field is negligible, and so is the
specific energy absorption rate (SAR).
18 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6,December 1998
can be expressed in terms of two convolutions: one for D(r) , and omy. Accurate information about the SAR can be used to assess
the other for V*D(r), and these convolutions can be evaluated more accurately the potential hazards of RF fields to the patient.
efficiently using the fast Fourier transform (FFT). A simpler
method is to keep Equations (39) and (40) separate, and to discre-
tize them individually [41]. This requires A(r) to be discretized as 7. Concluding remarks
well. The discretization of Equation (39) results in a sparse matrix, In this paper, we described the electromagnetic analysis and
and the discretization of Equation (40) results in a discrete convo- design of the key components of an MRI system. The importance
lution for D(r) only. The final matrix equation for D(r) is implied of analytical and numerical electromagnetics in the development of
when the discretized A(r) is substituted into the discretized Equa- the MRI technology was clearly demonstrated. Although the ana-
tion (39). The numerical implementation of the second method is lytical methods have usually been regarded in the electromagnetics
much easier than for the first one. When the matrix equation is community as not being very useful, other than providing bench-
solved using the transpose-free quasi-minimal residual (TF-QMR) mark solutions for validation purposes, they have played a vital
algorithm [42], one has to evaluate only six FFTs within each role in the design of MRI coils. Some of these coils can be used as
iteration. perfect examples in a graduate or undergraduate electromagnetics
course, to illustrate the application of classical electromagnetics to
To demonstrate the behavior of RF fields in the object to be modem technology. In fact, the role of analytical electromagnetics
imaged, we give an example of a shielded birdcage coil, loaded has been appreciated for a long time in the MRI community, and
with the human head. For this, we need an electromagnetic model more and more people are starting to appreciate the role of numeri-
of the head. This model can be constructed by segmenting MRI cal electromagnetics. The latter is mainly due to the need to
images into voxels in the shape of cubes. Each voxel is then given develop better gradient and RF coils, and the need to characterize
a tag that identifies its tissue type. The electromagnetic model used complex interactions between electromagnetic fields and biological
here is shown in Figure 18 [43]. The tissues are skin, muscle, bone, objects, which arise in the high-frequency MRI systems. (A work-
brain, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), air (sinuses), lens, humour, and shop on Computational Electromagnetics in Magnetic Resonance
cartilage. Their material properties are obtained by interpolation was recently held in College Station, Texas, by the Intemational
and extrapolation of the data given by Stuchly and Stuchly [44]. Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, and chaired by S. M.
Wright.)
The birdcage coil considered has a diameter of 26 cm, a
length of 26 cm, and consists of 16 rungs. The coil is enclosed by a Although MRI has reached its mature stage within a rather
cylindrical shield, having a diameter of 32 cm and a length of short time, as a revolutionary imaging modality for medical diag-
32 cm. Therefore, the shield is 3 cm away from the coils rungs, nosis, the MRI technology itself continues to evolve. For example,
which are about 3.6 cm away from the head. The maximum elec- traditional MRI systems use cylindrical magnet and gradient coils
tric current in the rungs of the coil is assumed to be 1 A, and the and, as such, the patient is placed inside the cylinder, known as the
coil has quadrature excitation. The two frequencies considered are
64 MHz and 256 MHz, corresponding to the frequency of the Bl
field in 1.5 T and 6 T MRI systems, respectively. The numerical
results are given in terms of S A R and Bl field. The S A R is calcu-
lated from the electric field, using
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22 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6, December 1998