Practical aspects of shielded gradient-coil design for localised in vivo NMR spectroscopy and small-scale imaging

Correction of frequency and phase variations induced by eddy currents in localized spectroscopy with multiple echo times

As a consequence of the time-varying magnetic field induced by eddy currents, frequency drifting occurs when the sampling window of localized spectroscopy continuously shifts. The frequency drifting and the concomitant phase variations can severely affect spectroscopy results when data are acquired with multiple echo times (TEs), such as in the measurement of glutamate (Glu) concentration using the TE-averaged method. Specifically, the averaged spectra are further broadened and distorted in the presence of residual eddy currents, and editing of the coupled spins of Glu C4 protons is affected, resulting in errors in the measured relative intensity ratio. Postacquisition correction using unsuppressed water as reference can effectively minimize this detrimental effect, as manifested by the significantly enhanced signal intensity. Also, it is demonstrated that the methyl signals of creatine (Cr) at 3.0 ppm and choline (Cho) at 3.2 ppm can be used as internal references in finding frequency and phase disparities between different TEs.

Application of the SUSHI method to the design of gradient coils

An approach to potential improvements in magnetic field shielding for a gradient coil system with cylindrical geometry is presented, utilizing "supershielding" conditions for the currents on both the primary and the secondary coils. It is demonstrated that the field can be strongly suppressed everywhere outside a cylindrical shield coil radius, even though the finite-length active shield only partially surrounds a primary coil. The supershielding method, which is aimed at controlling eddy currents, still has sufficient freedom to maintain the desired magnetic field behavior inside the imaging volume. The trade-off is an additional primary current oscillation and increased current peaks and field energy. This method has been applied to design short transverse and axial gradient coils, giving substantially improved shielding compared to an apodization method. Magn Reson Med 45:147-155, 2001.

Design and fabrication of a three-axis multilayer gradient coil for magnetic resonance microscopy of mice

There is great interest in the non-destructive capabilities of magnetic resonance microscopy for studying murine models of both disease and normal function; however, these studies place extreme demands on the MR hardware, most notably the gradient field system. We designed, using constrained current minimum inductance methods, and fabricated a complete, unshielded three-axis gradient coil set that utilizes interleaved, multilayer axes to achieve maximum gradient strengths of over 2000 mT m(-1) in rise times of less than 50 micros with an inner coil diameter of 5 cm. The coil was wire-wound using a rectangular wire that minimizes the deposited power for a given gradient efficiency. Water cooling was also incorporated into the coil to assist in thermal management. The duty cycle for the most extreme cases of single shot echo planar imaging (EPI) is limited by the thermal response and expressions for maximum rates of image collection are given for burst and continuous modes of operation. The final coil is capable of the collection of single shot EPI images with 6 mm field of view and 94 microm isotropic voxels at imaging rates exceeding 50 s(-1).

Localized eddy current compensation using quantitative field mapping

Eddy current effects induced by switched gradients in proximal conducting structures are traditionally reduced by applying preemphasis currents whose amplitudes and decay characteristics must be set to offset the eddy current fields. We present an expeditious, localized, and quantitative method for mapping and adjusting the parameters for eddy current compensation. Mapping is based on analysis of projections as used in the fast automatic shimming technique by mapping along projections (FASTMAP). Adjustment methods are demonstrated in high-field horizontal bore systems. The proposed localized eddy current mapping technique may also be used for localized measurements in situations where asymmetric conducting structures may cause nonlinear eddy current fields, such as in interventional MRI and open magnet designs.

Constrained length minimum inductance gradient coil design

A gradient coil design algorithm capable of controlling the position of the homogeneous region of interest (ROI) with respect to the current-carrying wires is required for many advanced imaging and spectroscopy applications. A modified minimum inductance target field method that allows the placement of a set of constraints on the final current density is presented. This constrained current minimum inductance method is derived in the context of previous target field methods. Complete details are shown and all equations required for implementation of the algorithm are given. The method has been implemented on computer and applied to the design of both a 1:1 aspect ratio (length:diameter) central ROI and a 2:1 aspect ratio edge ROI gradient coil. The 1:1 design demonstrates that a general analytic method can be used to easily obtain very short gradient coil designs for use with specialized magnet systems. The edge gradient design demonstrates that designs that allow imaging of the neck region with a head sized gradient coil can be obtained, as well as other applications requiring edge-of-cylinder regions of uniformity.

Reducing flow artifacts in echo-planar imaging

Echo-planar imaging (EPI) is very susceptible to flow artifacts. Two ways to improve its flow properties are presented. First, "partial flyback" is proposed to reduce artifacts arising from flow in the readout direction. Near the center of k-space, only the even echoes of the EPI echo-train are used. Partial flyback is shown to improve the readout-flow properties at the expense of a slight worsening of the phase-encode flow and off-resonance properties. We recommend that the flyback region acquire 95% of the energy in k-space. Second, "inside-out" EPI is used to reduce artifacts arising from flow in the phase-encode direction. Data collection begins at the center of k-space, with separate interleaves to acquire the top and bottom, halves of k-space. Partial flyback is combined with partial-Fourier EPI and inside-out EPI. Partial-flyback inside-out EPI has worse off-resonance properties than partial-flyback partial-Fourier EPI but demonstrates better flow properties and does not require partial k-space reconstruction.

In vivo localized 1H spectroscopy of the rat eye at 7 T: preliminary studies

Preliminary in vivo proton spectroscopic studies of the posterior chamber of the rat eye have been undertaken at 7 T. The Spatial and Chemical shift encoded Excitation (SPACE) localization sequence was used to acquire signals from 10 microliter voxels and demonstrate the presence of metabolites associated with the vitreous humor, lens, retina, and the optic nerve. Localized T2 and T1 measurements of water in the vitreous humor indicate a relatively fluid environment. Susceptibility maps are used to demonstrate the difficulties of in vivo spectroscopic investigations in the anterior regions of the eye. Comments are made concerning the implications for spectral resolution in these regions.

A design methodology for short, whole-body, shielded gradient coils for MRI

A series of designs is presented for restricted length, whole-body, shielded gradient coils. By using the real space optimization technique, simulated annealing (SA), it is possible to produce viable gradient sets with a length-to-diameter ratio (LDR) of just 1.0. Radially remote return paths for the transverse coils aid in producing such short coils. While the linear regions of such coils cannot be as large as longer coils, they produce homogeneous linear regions suitable for use in whole-body imaging. The coil sets are well shielded even at such small LDRs.

High resolution high field rodent cardiac imaging with flow enhancement suppression

A method that incorporates cardiorespiratory-gated 2DFT spin-echo imaging with blood flow enhancement suppression is described which enables high resolution microimaging of the rodent heart. This methodology was applied to obtain in vivo cardiac mouse and rat images with in-plane resolutions of 100-200 microns using high field vertical bore magnet systems. Suppression of intraventricular blood flow enhancement was achieved using a combined spin-echo/gradient-refocussed sequence to dephase magnetization from flowing spins prior to imaging.