1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). More specifically, it relates to a four-ring birdcage coil having at least one tuning ring for double resonance MRI.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Birdcage coils for magnetic resonance apparatuses are generally known. In magnetic resonance systems, birdcage coils are used as transmission elements for excitation of magnetic resonances. Furthermore, they are also used as whole-body reception elements for magnetic resonance systems as well as, in some cases, local coils (for example as head coils).
A shortcoming of some conventional double-tuned birdcage coils, including those described by Murphy-Boesch et al. J. Mag. Res., vol. 103, pp. 103-114 (1994), is the difficulty in tuning the resonant frequencies. Conventional double-tuned birdcage coils have dependent tuning. An example of a double-tuned birdcage coil is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,418, where two different sets of capacitors are in the path of both the low and high frequency currents, and adjusting one set of capacitances affects both low and high resonant frequencies. Thus, the double-tuned birdcage coils are dependently tuned such that more than one set of capacitances on the coil must be adjusted to tune either the lower or higher frequency, and significant amounts of time may be required for an iterative tuning procedure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,100,694 uses a combination of low-pass and high-pass configuration to achieve double resonance operation. Because the high-pass configuration requires more capacitance, it is difficult to use distributed capacitance in the design and difficult to construct a double resonance coil based on the modification of a single resonance coil by the introduction of coupling rings.
Thus, what is needed is a double-tuned birdcage coil that may be conveniently tuned to cover a large frequency range. What is also needed is a multiply tuned birdcage coil that has independent tuning on each channel. Moreover, what is needed is a way to easily construct a double resonance coil based on the modification of a single resonance coil.
Generally speaking, the claimed invention is a four-ring birdcage coil having at least one tuning ring for double resonance MRI. The apparatus includes a cylindrical birdcage coil having a pair of opposed outer rings, a pair of opposed inner rings, and a plurality of equally spaced vertical legs, with the inner rings being disposed between or within the outer rings. The pair of opposed outer rings are connected to the plurality of equally spaced vertical legs via a plurality of capacitors. The pair of opposed inner rings are coupled to the plurality of vertical legs through distributed capacitance. The cylindrical birdcage coil is constructed around a cylindrical coil former, and a concentric Faraday shield is disposed around the cylindrical birdcage coil.
At least one tuning ring is disposed within the cylindrical birdcage coil. The tuning ring(s) may be movable in all direction within the cylindered birdcage, may rotate, or may be affixed in a specific location. By varying the position of the mobile tuning ring(s), the effective coupling between the cylindrical birdcage coil and the tuning ring(s) can be varied and thus the coil's resonance frequency varied. This tuning scheme is effective for the high operating frequency where the B1 homogeneity can be preserved over a broad range of sample loads. The adjustment at the high frequency channel will not affect the resonance of the low frequency channel. The resonance at the low operating frequency is adjusted by a variable capacitor shunt connected to a separate coupling inductor. Because the coupling inductor is effectively interacting with the birdcage coil only at the low operating frequency, the adjustment at the low frequency channel will not affect the resonance of the high frequency channel.
In a first embodiment, at least one tuning ring is disposed within the cylindrical birdcage coil.
In a second embodiment, a pair of diametrically opposed tuning rings is disposed within the cylindrical birdcage coil at a first location coplanar to the pair of diametrically opposed outer rings, respectively.
In a third embodiment, a pair of diametrically opposed tuning rings is disposed within the cylindrical birdcage coil at a second location coplanar to the pair of diametrically opposed inner rings, respectively.
In a fourth embodiment, a pair of diametrically opposed tuning rings is concentrically adjustable within the cylindrical birdcage resonator between the outer ring and the inner ring, respectively, with the pair of diametrically opposed tuning rings moving simultaneously in opposite directions.
In a fifth embodiment, a pair of diametrically opposed tuning rings is disposed within the cylindrical birdcage resonator and includes one fixed ring and one concentrically moving ring.
In a sixth embodiment, the inner rings and the outer rings are coplanar but of different radiuses. A pair of diametrically opposed tuning rings is adjustably disposed within the cylindrical birdcage coil. The tuning rings move in opposite directions, with the tuning rings having different degrees of overlap with the coplanar inner rings. This allows equal fields of view for both low- and high-frequency channels along the coil's axis.
For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
a) is a geometric diagram of a four-ring birdcage coil with no tuning rings;
b) is the circuit diagram of an individual mesh at the low operating frequency, where the inner ring and the outer ring have the same current direction;
c) shows the inner ring and outer ring having opposite current directions at high operating frequency;
a) is the geometric diagram of the four-ring birdcage coil with a tuning ring coplanar with the outer ring;
b) shows the diagram of the four-ring birdcage coil with the tuning ring coplanar with the inner;
c) is a graph showing the dependence of the coil's resonance frequency on the position of the tuning rings;
a) illustrates the schematic diagram of the electric field distribution along the cylindrical axis of the four-ring birdcage coil;
b) shows that the E-field generated by each unit has a sinusoidal intensity profile along the Z-axis; and
a) is the geometric diagram of a four-ring birdcage, coil, generally denoted as number 10, with no tuning rings. The coil 10 is constructed from conductive strips disposed on the surface of dielectric cylindrical former 14. The outer rings 16 are connected to the legs 18 through a series of chip capacitors 20. The inner rings 22 are wrapped around the legs 18 with thin layer of dielectric 19 sandwiched in between.
Still referring to
The coil has low-pass configuration in both channels so that the high frequency mode only requires a small capacitance for resonance. This feature enables easy modification of a single resonance coil into a double resonance coil by incorporation of non-contact coupling rings 22 (inner rings) whose capacitive coupling with the rungs generates enough capacitance to introduce the high-frequency resonance mode. The coil 10 also uses at least one additional moving (refer to component 28 in
b) is the circuit diagram of an individual mesh at the low operating frequency, where the inner ring CD and the outer ring AB have the same current direction. Conversely, as shown in
In the geometric diagram of the birdcage coil 10, as shown in
In
c) graphically demonstrates the dependence of the coil's resonance frequency on the position of the tuning rings. When the tuning rings EF are moving away from the outer rings AB towards the inner ring CD, the resonance frequency decrease from the maximum to the minimum. And this is the region where frequency tuning is most effective.
a) and (b) illustrate the reduced penetrating electric field of the four-ring birdcage coil in its high frequency resonance mode. In the geometrical diagram in
It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, and those made apparent from the foregoing disclosure, are efficiently attained. Since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matters contained in the foregoing disclosure or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein disclosed, and all statements of the scope of the invention that, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent application No. 61/264,033, entitled “A CONVENIENT DOUBLE RESONANCE MRI COIL DESIGN,” filed on Nov. 24, 2009, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
This invention was made with government support under Grant No. DMR 06-54118 awarded by the National Science Foundation. The government has certain rights in the invention.
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4916418 | Rath | Apr 1990 | A |
4992737 | Schnur | Feb 1991 | A |
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6100694 | Wong | Aug 2000 | A |
6377047 | Wong et al. | Apr 2002 | B1 |
6396271 | Burl et al. | May 2002 | B1 |
6452393 | Allen et al. | Sep 2002 | B1 |
6825660 | Boskamp | Nov 2004 | B2 |
8035384 | Saha | Oct 2011 | B2 |
20060012370 | Barberi | Jan 2006 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61264033 | Nov 2009 | US |