Open AccessA system for open‐access 3 He human lung imaging at very low field
Author(s) -
Ruset I.C.,
Tsai L.L.,
Mair R.W.,
Patz S.,
Hrovat M.I.,
Rosen M.S.,
Muradian I.,
Ng J.,
Topulos G.P.,
Butler J.P.,
Walsworth R.L.,
Hersman F.W.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
concepts in magnetic resonance part b: magnetic resonance engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.286
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1552-504X
pISSN - 1552-5031
DOI - 10.1002/cmr.b.20075
Subject(s) - imaging phantom , physics , optics , planar , supine position , human lung , laser , nuclear magnetic resonance , computer science , lung , medicine , computer graphics (images)
We describe a prototype system built to allow open‐access very‐low‐field MRI of human lungs using laser‐polarized 3 He gas. The system employs an open four‐coil electromagnet with an operational B 0 field of 4 mT, and planar gradient coils that generate gradient fields up to 0.18 G/cm in the x and y direction and 0.41 G/cm in the z direction. This system was used to obtain 1 H and 3 He phantom images and supine and upright 3 He images of human lungs. We include discussion on challenges unique to imaging at 50–200 kHz, including noise filtering and compensation for narrow‐bandwidth coils. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Concepts Magn Reson 29B: 210–221, 2006.