Peripheral vascular array
AssigneeMedrad, Inc.
InventorsKenneth W. Belt, Michael Reichel, J. Michael Watral, Stanley R. Lewandowski, Bradley J. Adams, Lisa A. Augustine, Robert S. Bell JR.
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Abstract
An interface that couples a surface coil array having N receiving elements to an NMR scanner having M preamplifier inputs. The interface includes an RF switch array and a transmit/receive bias circuit. The RF switch array and the transmit/receive bias circuit are controlled by a control logic circuit. In response to a predetermined input, the control logic circuit causes a predetermined subset of the N receiving elements to be couple to the preamplifier inputs of the NMR scanner. Preferably, N may be larger than M.
Claims20
A coil interface in an imaging system, comprising, in combination:
- N image signal inputs;
- a plurality of coil switches connected to a plurality of said N image signal inputs;
- circuitry for selecting a group of said N image signal inputs by enabling a selected group of said plurality of switches in response to a group selector input;
- and
- M image signal outputs, at least one of said image signal outputs being connected to a selected group of N image signal inputs when said selected group of said plurality of switches is enabled, said image signal outputs being operable to receive said image signals when N is greater than M.
An interface for connecting a surface coil array to an NMR scanner, comprising:
- a first number, N, of RF inputs, the RF inputs being arranged to receive signals from the surface coil array;
- an RF switch circuit coupled to the RF inputs, said RF switch circuit having a second number, M, of RF outputs, wherein the RF switch circuit comprises a first plurality of RF switches coupled to the RF inputs, a second plurality of RF combiners coupled to receive outputs from a subset of the first plurality of RF switches, and a third plurality of RF switches coupled to receive outputs from the second plurality of RF combiners;
- and
- a control logic circuit coupled to the RF switch circuit, wherein the control logic circuit receives a coil select signal and controls a state of the first plurality of RF switches and the third plurality of RF switches in response to the coil select signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.