Mohammad Mohammadzadeh1,2 and Mohammad Mohammadi2
1ICT, University of Applied Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran, 2Nuclear Engineering, Shahid Beheshti, Tehran, Iran
Synopsis
MR micro coils provide high SNR images of the
mass limited samples. To increase the coil sensitivity and then the image SNR,
microcoils geometries are adapted to the sample dimension. However,
differences between magnetic susceptibility of the coil conductor and its
surrounding materials distorts the B0 magnetic fields homogeneity across the
sample. In this study, we measured 2D
maps of
a solenoid of 1mm diameter and compared them with the simulated results at 9.4 T. Considering the good agreement of the computed and measured maps,
effects of the shimming and susceptibility matching
processes were assessed in removing the B0 fields inhomogeneities. Simulated results verify that
shimming coils are not able to fully cancel the B0 field inhemogenities but
embedding the micro coils in susceptible materials will remove the B0 inhomogeneity completely.Purpose
Assessment of the B0 inhomogeneity of a micro solenoid of a 1mm diameter at 9.4T and comparing the performances of methods are used for reducing the B0 inhomogeneity in MR Microscopy.
Coil geometry
The solenoidal coil is made of a gold copper
wire wounded on an SU8 cylinder which is used as a sample holder [1]. Figure 1
illustrates the geometry of fabricated and simulated coils design. Table 1
depicts the geometry and magnetic susceptibility factors of the coil elements
and the used sample [1,2].
Simulation
Simulation of B0 magnetic fields of a
solenoid micro coil of 1mm diameter was performed inside a doped water sample
according to magneto static equations
by using Comsol and Matlab.
To reduce the B0 inhomogeneities across the
sample, two procedures were followed; applying the shimming fields and
embedding the coil in a susceptible material;.
For applying the shimming fields, at first
the B0 field inhomogeneity was calculated across the sample. Then for minimizing
the inhomogeneities, the shimming coils currents were optimized using least mean
square (LMS) algorithm.
Susceptibility matching method was performed by
embedding the coil in a susceptible material. And the optimal magnetic
susceptibility factor of the surrounding material was obtained by minimizing the
B0 fields deviation using LMS algorithm.
Measurement
B0 maps were obtained
using phase difference method according to Δω
0
=ΔΦ/ΔE
[3].
where, In this equation, ΔΦ and ΔE are the phase and echo time differences of two 3D
GE images. The phase difference of two images were derived from the phases of the
Fourier transformed (FT) images at two different echo times. Then the phase
data were unwrapped using a custom made program written in Matlab. Images were acquired using a solenoidal microcoil ( see Fig.
1) from a water doped with cu
2so
4 sample at 9.4T Bruker Biospin 94/20 system.
Results and Discussion
Figure 2 compares the 2D
B0 simulated and measured maps of a solenoid of 1mm diameter which its elements
geometries given in table 2. Results show that the maps are in good agreement
and standard deviation (STD) of simulated and measured data are 125.1 and 118.2
Hz respectively. Considering this agreement, some simulations are performed to
reduce the magnitude of B0 deviation across the sample. As a first step the length of SU8 increased
to 5 mm. Simulation results show that increasing the length of the sample holder
of about 8 times will decrease the STD of B0 deviation to 40.8
MHz. As it is expected this result caused
by increasing the aspect ratio (or ratio
of length to diameter) of the SU-8
cylinder. Then the solenoid was embedded in a susceptible material with the
optimized susceptibility factor of
-35×10-6 (such as the epoxy doped with Er
3+
) and then 2D B0 maps were produced across the sample. Table 2 depicts that the STD of the B0
maps has drastically decreased to 0.3 Hz. Finally we calculated the
optimal shimming magnetic fields using LMS method and then applied them to the
sample and coil geometry. Table 2 represents that this procedure decrease the
STD of the B0 deviation to 23.3 Hz.
Conclusion
We
measured and simulated 2D B0 maps of a solenoid of 1mm diameter and verified
that there is a good agreement between the measured and computed results. Then considering this agreement, to reduce
the B0 inhomogeneities of the microcoil three methods were evaluated in the simulation environment. Simulation results show that, although, applying the
shimming fields and lengthening the coil can decrease the magnitude of B0
deviation significantly. However, the susceptibility
matching method can almost fully remove the B0 inhomogeneities of the micro coil.
Acknowledgements
No acknowledgement found.References
1. Mohammadzadeh M: 2D B0 mapping of micro solenoids with and without FC-84 and SU-8 at 9.4 T. Concepts in Magnetic Resonance Part B: Magnetic Resonance Engineering 2015, 45(2):69-77.
2. Reitz JR, Milford FJ, Christy RW: Foundations of electromagnetic theory: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company; 2008.
3. Chen H-H, Boykin RD,
Clarke GD, Gao J-HT, Roby III JW: Routine
testing of magnetic field homogeneity on clinical MRI systems. Medical physics 2006, 33(11):4299-4306.