Determining the Impedance Matching Requirements of RF Coils using the Transmission-Line Modelling Method

P. J. Cassidy1, K. Clarke1, D. J. Edwards2

University of Oxford, Department of Biochemistry, Oxford, England, United Kingdom, 2University of Oxford, Department of Engineering Science, Oxford, England, United Kingdom Synopsis The Transmission-Line Modelling (TLM) method is used to determine the impedance matching requirements of RF coils using equivalent lumped-element circuit components of R, L, C, k and M extracted from the simulations. These in turn are used to derive equivalent circuit representations for the RF coils. Then electric circuit theory is applied to the equivalent circuit representations to determine their impedance matching requirements for capacitive and inductive impedance matching schemes. Experimental verification gave agreement of < 0.5 pF for the matching capacitance, which was sufficient for component selection purposes. Methods Simulations: TLM [1] models of a single-tune capacitance Alderman-Grant coil, a distributed tune capacitance Alderman-Grant coil, a low-pass birdcage coil and a high-pass birdcage coil were constructed using Micro-Stripes TLM software (Flomerics Ltd., Surrey, UK), and their equivalent lumped-element circuits were determined for the unloaded and krebs ( r = 74, =1.5 S/m) loaded conditions. For capacitive impedance matching the equivalent circuits of Figs. 1a to 1c were derived for the single-tune capacitance Alderman-Grant coil, distributed tune capacitance Alderman-Grant coil, and the birdcage coils respectively. For inductive impedance matching the equivalent circuit of Fig 1d was derived. The derivation of the equivalent circuit representations was based on current and voltage distributions around the coils obtained from the TLM simulations [2], and the type of impedance matching circuit to be employed. Circuit Analysis: For capacitive impedance matching, analysis of Figs. 1a to 1c for the matching capacitance Cm, yields Eq.(1) [3,4]. For inductive impedance matching, analysis of Fig. 1d for Cm, yields Eq.(2). (1)
1

Ro

L p +

Req

Ro

where N is the tapped-capacitor turns ration (N = 1 for single capacitance RF coils and N = 1 + C2/C1 for tapped-capacitance RF coils), Ceq is the equivalent capacitance and Req is the equivalent resistance of the RF coils, Lp is the inductance of the coupling loop, M is the mutual inductance of the coupled coils obtained from co-tuning coupled coils and determining their coupling coefficient k from Eq.(3) [5], is the angular resonance frequency, new is the new angular resonance frequency due to coupling and Ro is the impedance of the RF system. Experimental Comparisons: Corresponding RF coils were constructed for use on a 7 Tesla micro-imaging system, and a variable capacitor (1-10 pF, NMNT106E, Voltronics Corporation, Denville, NJ, USA) was characterised using a known inductor, a search coil, and S11 measurements of the resonance frequency at each complete revolution of the capacitors rotor using a network analyser (HP8712ET, Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA, USA). The same variable capacitor was then used to impedance match the RF coils in the unloaded and krebs loaded conditions. When the matching condition was reached, the value of matching capacitance Cm was noted and compared to the TLM determined values. Results Agreements between TLM and experiment of < 0.5 pF for values of Cm were obtained for the impedance matching schemes depicted in Figs. 1a to 1d for the micro-imaging RF coils in the unloaded and krebs loaded conditions. Fig. 1. Equivalent Req lumped-element circuit (b) (a) Ro Cm Req representations of RF coils and matching schemes: Ro Cm C1 (a) Capacitively matched E Ceq Leq single-tune capacitance Leq Alderman-Grant coil. (b) Capacitively matched C2 Req E distributed tune capacitance AldermanGrant coil. (d) (c) M (c) Capacitively matched Ro Cm C1 Ro Cm Req birdcage coils (also applicable to TEM coils) C3 Leq (d) Series-tuned inductively coupled E C2 E Lp Leq Ceq arbitrary RF coil.

Discussion The methods presented here, although applied to micro-imaging coils, are applicable to all RF coils and capacitive and inductive impedance matching schemes, and require no additional computational effort once the equivalent lumped-element circuit components have been extracted. The results are in excellent agreement with experiment, but it should be borne in mind that the interaction between tuning and matching has to be considered, and therefore the methods presented here are useful only as a guide for component selection purposes. However, using the equivalent lumped-element circuit representations presented here, it should be relatively easy to determine the tuning and matching requirements of RF coils concurrently, and future work will examine the utility of this approach. References 1. Johns PB and Beurle RF, Proc. IEE, 118, No.9, 1203-8 (1971). 2. Cassidy PJ et al., MAGMA 14,1:20-29 (2002). 3. Chen CN and Hoult DI, Biomedical Magnetic Resonance Technology, Bristol & New York: IOP Publishing (1989). 4. Krauss HL et al., Solid State Radio Engineering, New York: John Wiley & Sons (1980). 5. Terman FE, Radio Engineers Handbook. New York and London: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. (1943).

Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 11 (2003)

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2M 2

(2)

Cm = NCeq

Req

1/ 2

Cm =

k= new

(3)