ISMRM 2024

At-A-Glance Session Detail

MR Engineering II: RF Engineering

Weekend Course

ORGANIZERS: Maria Engel, Shaoying Huang, Özlem Ipek, Xiaoliang Zhang

Sunday, 05 May 2024

Summit 2

13:15 - 17:10

Moderators: Gregor Adriany & Lena Nohava

Skill Level: Basic to Advanced

Session Number: WE-13

CME Credit

Session Number: WE-13

Overview
In this one-day course, the principles of RF coils used to detect and excite MR signals will be discussed, beginning with volume and surface coils for low and high field MRI and then extended to the arrays using transmit and receive coils. The specialised coil designs for the purpose of multi-nuclei and preclinical MR will be addressed. The course will conclude with a live demonstration of RF coil workshop.

Target Audience
This course is designed for MR technicians, scientists, and engineers with an interest in understanding the principles behind the construction, design, and use of RF coils and RF coil arrays.

Educational Objectives
As a result of attending this course, participants should be able to:
- Describe the basic theory, design, and construction of single and multi-tuned RF coils in multiple frequencies in clinical and preclinical setup;
- Illustrate the principles of operation and basic applications of receive and transmit RF coil arrays; and
- Identify the main methods for RF coil engineering.

13:15		Volume & Surface Coils for Low- & High-Field MR Ed Boskamp Keywords: Physics & Engineering: Hardware Motivation: This course is intended for engineers and physicists who want to design RF coils Goal(s): After this course you will be able to make simple transmit and receive coils for low and high field Approach: We will review design requirements for low and high field Tx and Rx coils, SNR, SAR, EM field-tissue interaction, decoupling Results: High field and low field require very different designs Impact: Coil designers will appreciate the differences in low and high field RF coil designs and will understand the difference in design requirements
13:45		Multi-Transmit RF Coils Xiao-Yong Zhang
14:15		Preclinical MR Coil Design Ernest WH Wong Keywords: Physics & Engineering: Hardware, Physics & Engineering: Preclinical MRI The objective of this course is to give the audience a basic understanding of vary technologies used in preclinical MR RF coil design so that they are able to pick the right tools for their researches. In this course, four common sensitivity enhancement approaches in coil design will be mentioned. The basic principle, the advantages and the limitations within the preclinical MR domain will be discussed. Typical coil types using these approaches will be listed. Also two measurement-speed enhancement approaches and multiple-nuclei RF coil design will be discussed.
14:45		Break & Meet the Teachers
15:15		Receive Coil Arrays & SNR Ye Li, Xiaoliang Zhang Keywords: Physics & Engineering: Hardware The receive coil array plays a crucial role in MRI systems, allowing for the reception of MR signals detected from objects. The receive coil array consists of multiple decoupled coil elements that acquire MR signals simultaneously. The performance of receive coil arrays is critical for signal-to-noise ratio, coverage and parallel imaging capability. This presentation aims to introduce element optimization, decoupling methodologies and integration of RF components such as T/R switches, detuning circuits, baluns, etc..
15:45		Multi-Nuclei Coil Design Nikolai Avdievich Keywords: Physics & Engineering: Hardware Motivation: X-nuclei (¹³C, ³¹P, ¹⁹F etc) MRI and spectroscopy are of great interest since these methods provide a non-invasive technique to study in-vivo metabolite changes due to various diseases. Goal(s): To provide anatomical landmarks for interpretation of X-nuclei spectroscopic data, ¹H anatomical images are required. Approach: To eliminate uncertainties associated with repositioning the patient, the RF coil must also resonate at the ¹H frequency. This technique is called double-tuning (DT) of the RF coils. Results: The choice of DT design is determined by the requirements of a specific application. Various methods of constructing DT RF surface coils, volume coils, and phased arrays are discussed. Impact: RF engineers, scientists and students interested in development, construction and usage of double-tuned RF MRI coils for X-nuclei spectroscopic studies can benefit from this presentation.
16:15		Hands-On Workshop on RF Coils Joe Li