Half driving mode for degenerate birdcage coils and ladder coils
AssigneeQuality Electrodynamics, LLC
InventorsXiaoyu Yang, Steven Tokar, Tsinghua Zheng, Labros Peptropoulos
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system can include a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) radio frequency (RF) coil, which is or otherwise includes a degenerate birdcage coil (DBC) or a ladder coil. The MRI RF coil includes a row of meshes for operation in a half driving transmit mode. The meshes can include driving meshes and non-driving meshes, where each non-driving mesh is coupled between neighboring driving meshes. Driving meshes are electrically coupled to drivers, whereas non-driving meshes are not. The MRI RF coil may have enhanced transmit power efficiency and magnetic field uniformity with fewer drivers.
Claims20
A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) radio frequency (RF) coil, the MRI RF coil comprising:
- a first end structure and a second end structure;
- and
- a plurality of rungs elongated from the first end structure to the second end structure to form a plurality of meshes in a first row, wherein the plurality of meshes comprise a plurality of driving meshes forming transmit channels of the MRI RF coil and further comprise a plurality of non-driving meshes, and wherein each non-driving mesh of the plurality of non-driving meshes is between and borders a pair of driving meshes of the plurality of driving meshes;
- wherein the MRI RF coil has a total number of transmit channels in the first row equal to half a total number of rungs in the first row, and wherein the MRI RF coil is a degenerate birdcage coil (DBC) or a ladder coil.
A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, comprising:
- a radio frequency (RF) coil that is a degenerate birdcage RF coil or a ladder RF coil, wherein the RF coil comprises:
- a first end structure and a second end structure;
- and
- a plurality of rungs elongated in parallel from the first end structure to the second end structure to form a plurality of meshes in a first row, wherein the plurality of meshes comprise a plurality of driving meshes and a plurality of non-driving meshes, each non-driving mesh of the plurality of non-driving meshes being between and bordering a pair of driving meshes of the plurality of driving meshes;
- and
- a driver system comprising one or more drivers, wherein only the plurality of driving meshes amongst the plurality of meshes are electrically coupled to the driver system.
A method for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), comprising:
- providing a radio frequency (RF) coil, which is a degenerate birdcage RF coil or a ladder RF coil, wherein the RF coil comprises a plurality of rungs coupled to form at least one row of meshes, the meshes comprising non-driving meshes and driving meshes, each non-driving mesh coupled between a pair of neighboring driving meshes;
- and
- performing MRI on a scan target to generate an image of the scan target at a working frequency, wherein the performing comprises driving, via one or more drivers, the driving meshes only to transmit RF pulses into the scan target.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.