# US 11,112,470 B1 · Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and method with improved data transfer > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,112,470 B1 - Document ID: US11112470B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 16/859,559 - Filed: 2020-04-27 - Granted: 2021-09-07 - Earliest claimed: 2020-04-27 - Assignees: Canon Medical Systems Corporation - Applicants: Canon Medical Systems Corporation - Inventors: Yoshinori Hamamura; Mark Spring; Ernie Zepeda - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11112470B1 ## CPC - G01R 33/36: Electrical details, e.g. matching or coupling of the coil to the receiver - H03M 7/60: {General implementation details not specific to a particular type of compression} - H04B 3/50: Systems for transmission between fixed stations via two-conductor transmission lines (H04B3/54 takes precedence) - G01R 33/3621: {NMR receivers or demodulators, e.g. preamplifiers, means for frequency modulation of the MR signal using a digital down converter, means for analog to digital conversion [ADC] or for filtering or processing of the MR signal such as bandpass filtering, resampling, decimation or interpolation} - G01R: MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES (indicating correct tuning of resonant circuits H03J3/12) - H03M: CODING; DECODING; CODE CONVERSION IN GENERAL (using fluidic means F15C4/00; optical analogue/digital converters G02F7/00; coding, decoding or code conversion, specially adapted for particular applications, see the relevant subclasses, e.g. G01D, G01R, G06F, G06T, G09G, G10L, G11B, G11C, H04B, H04L, H04M, H04N; ciphering or deciphering for cryptography or other purposes involving the need for secrecy G09C) - H04B: TRANSMISSION ## Abstract According to one embodiment, a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus includes data acquisition circuitry configured to generate magnetic resonance data; a digital encoder connected to receive the magnetic resonance data and configured to digitally encode the magnetic resonance data using an encoding scheme having a spectral null approximately at the Larmor frequency; and an electric data transmission line connected to transmit the digitally encoded magnetic resonance data. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, comprising: data acquisition circuitry configured to generate magnetic resonance data; a digital encoder connected to receive the magnetic resonance data and configured to digitally encode the magnetic resonance data using an encoding scheme having a spectral null approximately at the Larmor frequency; and an electric digital data transmission line connected to transmit the digitally encoded magnetic resonance data. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data acquisition circuitry comprises: RF receiving coils; and analog to digital conversion circuitry. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electric digital data transmission line comprises one of a coaxial cable, a strip line and an LVDS (low-voltage differential signal) line. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 3, comprising: a notch filter having a notch frequency approximately centered at the Larmor frequency connected to receive the digitally encoded magnetic resonance data. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 3, wherein no balun is provided on the electric digital data transmission line. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein no balun is provided on the electric digital data transmission line. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 1, comprising: a notch filter having a notch frequency approximately centered at the Larmor frequency connected to receive the digitally encoded magnetic resonance data. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 7, comprising the notch filter connected between the digital encoder and the electric digital data transmission line. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the encoder is configured to digitally encode the magnetic resonance data using an 8B/10B encoding scheme. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a data acquisition sub-system connected to the electric data transmission line. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the sub-system comprises a notch filter receiving the digitally encoded data transmitted over the electric digital data transmission line. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a data aggregating circuit, wherein the electric digital data transmission line comprises a strip line connected between the encoder and the data aggregating circuit. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a fiber optical conversion circuit, wherein the electric digital data transmission line comprises a strip line connected between the encoder and the fiber optic conversion circuit. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the digital encoder is connected to receive the magnetic resonance data at the Larmor frequency and configured to digitally encode the magnetic resonance data using the encoding scheme having the spectral null approximately at the Larmor frequency. ### Claim 15 A method of operating a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus, comprising: acquiring MRI data using the apparatus; digitally encoding the data such that a frequency component at approximately the Larmor frequency is approximately zero; and transmitting digitally encoded data over transmission line. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method according to claim 15, comprising transmitting the encoded data over an electric digital data having no balun. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The method according to claim 15, comprising transmitting the encoded data over one of a coaxial able, strip line, and LVDS. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The method according to claim 15, comprising filtering the digitally encoded data to remove frequency components at approximately the Larmor frequency. ### Claim 19 (depends on 15) The method according to claim 15, comprising filtering the digitally encoded data using a notch filter centered at approximately the Larmor frequency. ### Claim 20 (depends on 15) The method according to claim 15, comprising encoding the digitally encoded data using an 8B/10B encoding scheme. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The method according to claim 20, comprising filtering the digitally encoded data to remove frequency components at approximately the Larmor frequency. ### Claim 22 (depends on 15) The method according to claim 15, comprising: acquiring the MRI data at the Larmor frequency; and digitally encoding the MRI data at the Larmor frequency. ### Claim 23 (depends on 16) The method according to claim 16, comprising digitally encoding the MRI data using an encoding scheme having a spectral null approximately at the Larmor frequency.