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Acquisition of 3 D temperature distributions in fluid flow using proton resonance frequency thermometry
Author(s) -
Buchenberg Waltraud B.,
Wassermann Florian,
Grundmann Sven,
Jung Bernd,
Simpson Robin
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
magnetic resonance in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.696
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1522-2594
pISSN - 0740-3194
DOI - 10.1002/mrm.25874
Subject(s) - thermocouple , flow (mathematics) , nuclear magnetic resonance , temperature measurement , resonance (particle physics) , materials science , proton , work (physics) , mechanics , flow measurement , chemistry , thermodynamics , physics , atomic physics , nuclear physics , composite material
Purpose Proton resonance frequency thermometry is well established for monitoring small temperature changes in tissue. Application of the technique to the measurement of complex temperature distributions within fluid flow is of great interest to the engineering community and could also have medical applications. This work presents an experimental approach to reliably measure three‐dimensional (3D) temperature fields in fluid flow using proton resonance frequency thermometry. Methods A velocity‐compensated three‐dimensional gradient echo sequence was used. A flexible pumping system was attached to an MR compatible double pipe heat exchanger. The temperature of two separate flow circuits could be adjusted to produce various three‐dimensional spatial temperature distributions within the fluid flow. Validation was performed using MR compatible temperature probes in a uniformly heated flow. A comparative study was conducted with thermocouples in the presence of a spatially varying temperature distribution. Results In uniformly heated flow, temperature changes were accurately measured to within 0.5 K using proton resonance frequency thermometry, while spatially varying temperature changes measured with MR showed good qualitative agreement with pointwise measurements using thermocouples. Conclusion Proton resonance frequency thermometry can be used in a variety of complex flow situations to address medical as well as engineering questions. This work makes it possible to gain new insights into fundamental heat transfer phenomena. Magn Reson Med 76:145–155, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.