This educational talk provides a comprehensive overview on the building blocks of a clinical MR system. It concentrates on the essential functions to generate and to detect an MR signal, and how to achieve spatial resolution. It provides short look into the field generating unit, the RF transmit and receive system as well as the real time control unit. These topics outlined briefly as it is covered in detailed lectures of this session. The MR Systems overview is completed by covering the patient interface (patient table, communication and physiological triggering) and support functions as cooling, component supervision and RF shielding.
An MR system is a quite complex device which requires a broad variety of technologies, ranging from cryogenic technique over coil designs to generate magnetic fields and high current amplifier to RF technologies including power amplifier, small signal components and antennas.
This educational talk gives a comprehensive overview on the building blocks of a clinical MR system. It concentrates on the essential functions to generate and to detect an MR signal, namely the field generating unit and the receive path. The talk paves the way for the further detailed contributions in this session. Magnets, the gradient system and shimming including their interactions will be outlined briefly. The same holds for RF system, both the transmit chain with RF power amplifier and transmit coil, and the receive path including local coils and receiver.
Essential is further a measurement control unit which controls the timing of the MR sequence. The received MR signal is processed in an image reconstruction computer. The host computer provides the interface to the operator of the MR system and image viewing. The basics for these functions are provided.
In order to operate these basic subsystems, support functions as cooling, component supervision, RF shield of the exam room are necessary. They are described along with general siting requirements.
The MR Systems overview is completed by covering the patient interface, mainly patient table, communication and physiological triggering units.
This talk will focus on the
state-of-the-art MR systems design and will briefly line-out new developments
and trends.