Synopsis

This talk will review the hardware of low-field MRI. The trend is to reduce the size, weight, and cost of the overall system, targeting point-of-care medicine. The Main magnet is either sparse Halbach array permanent magnet, which reduces the weight at the expensive of reduced homogeneity, or biplanar electromagnet, which have a relatively simple geometry. For pre-polarized MRI, a strong electromagnet is used for pre-polarization. For signal detection, an RF coil is preferred in the high frequency range, while SQUID sensors are used in the low frequency range. A customized, low-cost open-source console may be sufficient for low-field MRI.