HIGH PERFORMANCE LOW VOLUME INDUCTOR AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME

• US 20080122439A1
• Filed: 11/07/2006
• Published: 05/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Burdick, William E., de Rooij, Michael A., Lee, Ji-Ung
• Granted Patent: US 7,982,570 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/307
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/34007 Manufacture of RF coils, e.g. using printed circuit board technology; additional hardware for providing mechanical support to the RF coil assembly or to part thereof, e.g. a support for moving the coil assembly relative to the remainder of the MR system
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/34046 Volume type coils, e.g. bird-cage coils; Quadrature bird-cage coils; Circularly polarised coils
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/341 comprising surface coils
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 27/2823 Wires H01F27/2866 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 27/2847 Sheets; Strips H01F27/2866 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 5/00 Coils superconducting coils H01F6/06; fixed inductances of the signal type H01F17/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 7/202 Electromagnets for high magnetic field strength for superconducting electromagnets H01F6/00; for transformers or inductances without a magnetic core H01F30/08
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49071 by winding or coiling

Abstract

An inductor includes an electrical conductor wound in a magnetic flux concentrating pattern, the electrical conductor comprises a plurality of carbon nanotubes that are substantially aligned with an axis along a center of the electrical conductor.

Claims

1. An inductor comprising an electrical conductor wound in a magnetic flux concentrating pattern, the electrical conductor comprising a plurality of carbon nanotubes substantially aligned with an axis along a center of the electrical conductor.

2. The inductor of claim 1 wherein the carbon nanotubes form hollow litz-like perforated structures.

3. The inductor of claim 1 wherein the plurality of carbon nanotubes is a plurality of threadlike macromolecules.

4. The inductor of claim 1 wherein the magnetic flux concentrating pattern comprises one of a coil, a twin spiral, a tapered spiral, a tapered roll, and a tapered twin spiral.

5. The inductor of claim 1 wherein the electrical conductor is attached to a substrate.

6. The inductor of claim 5 wherein the electrical conductor is embedded in the substrate.

7. The inductor of claim 5 wherein the substrate is a material comprising one of a ceramic and a glass.

8. The inductor of claim 5 wherein the substrate is an organic material.

9. The inductor of claim 8 wherein the organic material comprises an epoxy resin.

10. The inductor of claim 5 wherein the substrate is a polymer.

11. The inductor of claim 10 wherein the polymer comprises one of a polyimide, an aramid, a fluorocarbon, and a polyester.

12. The inductor of claim 1 wherein the inductor is attached to an RF electrical circuit used in a diagnostic medical imaging system.

13. The inductor of claim 12 wherein the diagnostic imaging device is a device comprising one of a CT device, an MRI device, an x-ray device, and an ultrasound device.

14. The inductor of claim 1 wherein the inductor is attached to an electrical circuit used in at least one of a radio, a cell phone, or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) network.

15. A method of fabricating an inductor comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of threadlike macromolecules substantially axially aligned along a common axis; and

winding the plurality of threadlike macromolecules in a magnetic flux concentrating pattern.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the threadlike macromolecules are carbon nanotubes.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the plurality of threadlike macromolecules are formed by first providing a catalyst that is Fe.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the catalyst further comprises a co-catalyst comprising one of Mo and Al.

19. The method of claim 15 wherein the step of providing a plurality of threadlike macromolecules comprises forming the plurality of carbon nanotubes on a substrate.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the step of forming the plurality of threadlike macromolecules on the substrate includes one of attaching, growing, and embedding the carbon nanotubes on the substrate.

21. The method of claim 15 wherein the step of winding comprises winding the plurality of threadlike macromolecules in one of a coil, a twin spiral, a tapered spiral, a tapered roll, and a tapered twin spiral.

22. An MRI apparatus comprising:

a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system having a plurality of gradient coils positioned about a bore of a magnet to impress spatially dependent changes to a polarizing magnetic field and an RF transceiver system and an RF switch controlled by a pulse module to collect RF signals from an array of RF receive coils to acquire MR images; and

a plurality of carbon nanotube inductors electrically connected to the array of RF receive coils, each carbon nanotube inductor wound in a pattern to concentrate magnetic flux and comprising a plurality of carbon nanotubes substantially aligned with each other.

23. The MRI apparatus of claim 22 wherein the carbon nanotubes used to form the plurality of inductors are threadlike macromolecules.

24. The MRI apparatus of claim 22 wherein the pattern comprises one of a coil, a twin spiral, a tapered spiral, a tapered roll, and a tapered twin spiral.

25. The MRI apparatus of claim 22 wherein the plurality of carbon nanotube inductors is positioned on a substrate, the substrate comprising one of an organic material, a polymer, a ceramic, and a glass.

26. The MRI apparatus of claim 25 wherein the organic material comprises an epoxy resin.

27. The MRI apparatus of claim 25 wherein the polymer comprises one of a polyimide, an aramid, a fluorocarbon, and a polyester.

28. The MRI apparatus of claim 22 wherein the plurality of nanotubes is attached to a substrate via one of growth and embedment.