Dedicated Superconductor MRI Imaging System

• US 20100066368A1
• Filed: 09/17/2008
• Published: 03/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Time Medical Holdings Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Time Medical Holdings Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Ma, Qiyuan, Yeung, Sze Man, Gao, Erzhen
• Granted Patent: US 7,772,842 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/318
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/307 specially adapted for moving the sample relative to the MR system, e.g. spinning mechanisms, flow cells or means for positioning the sample inside a spectrometer
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/34023 Superconducting RF coils
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/3403 Means for cooling of the RF coils, e.g. a refrigerator or a cooling vessel specially adapted for housing an RF coil
• 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 33/34069 Saddle coils
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/341 comprising surface coils
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/3415 comprising arrays of sub-coils , i.e. phased-array coils with flexible receiver channels
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/365 Decoupling of multiple RF coils wherein the multiple RF coils have the same function in MR, e.g. decoupling of a receive coil from another receive coil in a receive coil array, decoupling of a transmission coil from another transmission coil in a transmission coil array

Abstract

The present invention relates to dedicated superconductor magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) RF apparatus and method of constructing the same. One Embodiment of the present invention provides an MRI breast imaging apparatus comprising an examination region, a patient support, at least one vacuum thermal isolation housing, a main magnet system, and a cryogenic system. The vacuum thermal isolation housing comprises a low vacuum space between at least one inner and an outer high vacuum enclosure. The low vacuum space hosts at least one superconductor RF coil and a heat sink assembly therein. The RF coil is in thermal contact with the heat sink assembly that is coupled to the cryogenic system through a heat pipe to achieve and maintain a desired low temperature at the superconductor RF coil. The system provides a local examination region substantially surrounded by the superconductor RF coil.

Claims

21-1. The MRI apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one superconductor RF coil is in a form of a quadrature coil or an array of coils.

29. A method of constructing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus comprising:

providing an examination region, a patient support system, at least one vacuum thermal isolation housing, a main magnet system for generating a main magnetic field in the examination region, and a cryogenic system embedded in the patient support system;

constructing the vacuum thermal isolation housing by producing at least one inner and an outer high vacuum enclosures with double wall hermetically sealed high vacuum jackets at a pressure of 10⁻

6 to 10<sup>−

12</sup> Torr;

arranging a low vacuum space at a pressure between 10<sup>−

3</sup> to 10<sup>−

6</sup> Torr between the inner and outer high vacuum enclosures;

Placing at least one superconductor RF coil in thermal contact with a heat sink assembly in the low vacuum space; and

Coupling the heat sink assembly to the cryogenic system through a heat pipe to achieve and maintain a desired low temperature at the superconductor RF coil.