Research on a portable shielding-free ultra-low field magnetic resonance imaging system_Journal of Biomedical Engineering

Authors：

ZHANG Yuxiang ¹ , HE wei ¹ , YANG Lei ¹ , HE Yucheng ² , WU Jiamin ² ,  XU Zheng ¹

1. School of Electrical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, P. R. China;
2. Shenzhen Academy of Aerospace Technology, Shenzhen 518057, P. R. China;

Corresponding author：

XU Zheng, Email: xuzheng@cqu.edu.cn

Keywords：

Magnetic resonance imaging; Ultra-low field; Shielding-free; Noise reduction

DOI：

10.7507/1001-5515.202303060

Video：

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The portable light-weight magnetic resonance imaging system can be deployed in special occasions such as Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and ambulances, making it possible to implement bedside monitoring imaging systems, mobile stroke units and magnetic resonance platforms in remote areas. Compared with medium and high field imaging systems, ultra-low-field magnetic resonance imaging equipment utilizes light-weight permanent magnets, which are compact and easy to move. However, the image quality is highly susceptible to external electromagnetic interference without a shielded room and there are still many key technical problems in hardware design to be solved. In this paper, the system hardware design and environmental electromagnetic interference elimination algorithm were studied. Consequently, some research results were obtained and a prototype of portable shielding-free 50 mT magnetic resonance imaging system was built. The light-weight magnet and its uniformity, coil system and noise elimination algorithm and human brain imaging were verified. Finally, high-quality images of the healthy human brain were obtained. The results of this study would provide reference for the development and application of ultra-low-field magnetic resonance imaging technology.

Citation： ZHANG Yuxiang, HE wei, YANG Lei, HE Yucheng, WU Jiamin, XU Zheng. Research on a portable shielding-free ultra-low field magnetic resonance imaging system. Journal of Biomedical Engineering, 2023, 40(5): 829-836. doi: 10.7507/1001-5515.202303060 Copy

1.	Sarracanie M, Lapierre C D, Salameh N, et al. Low-cost high-performance MRI. Sci Rep, 2015(5): 15177.
2.	He Yucheng, He Wei, Tan Liang, et al. Use of 2. 1 MHz MRI scanner for brain imaging and its preliminary results in stroke. J Magn Reson, 2020, 319: 106829.
3.	O’Reilly T, Teeuwisse W M, Webb A G, et al. In vivo 3D brain and extremity MRI at 50 mT using a permanent magnet Halbach array. Magn Reson Med, 2020, 85(1): 495-505.
4.	Sheth K N, Mazurek M H, Yuen M M, et al. Assessment of brain injury using portable, low-field magnetic resonance imaging at the bedside of critically ill patients. JAMA Neurol, 2021, 78: 41-47.
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6.	Liu Y, Leong A T L, Zhao Y, et al. A low-cost and shielding-free ultra-low-field brain MRI scanner. Nat Commun, 2021, 12: 7238.
7.	Restivo M C, Ramasawmy R, Bandettini W P, et al. Efficient spiral in-out and EPI balanced steady-state free precession cine imaging using a high-performance 0. 55T MRI. Magn Reson Med, 2020, 84(5): 2364-2375.
8.	贺中华, 何为, 贺玉成, 等. 皮肤烧伤深度检测的单边核磁共振浅层成像磁体系统. 电工技术学报, 2019, 34(3): 449-458.
9.	郭盼, 何为, Juan C, 等. 一种新型 Inside-Out 核磁共振传感器-三圆柱磁体阵列. 电工技术学报, 2016, 31(8): 96-101.
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11.	Marble A E, Mastikhin I V, Colpitts B G, et al. A constant gradient unilateral magnet for near-surface MRI profiling. J Magn Reson, 2006, 183(2): 228-234.
12.	He Wei, He Zhonghua. A hybrid passive shimming method applied to the design of a unilateral NMR magnet. Int J Appl Electromagn Mech, 2015, 49(4): 597-606.
13.	王轶楠. 核磁成像的无源被动匀场研究分析. 现代制造技术与装备, 2019, 270(5): 89-90.
14.	田录林, 贾嵘, 杨国清, 等. 永磁铁磁贴合体的磁场及磁力. 电工技术学报, 2008, 23(6): 7-13.
15.	Xu Z, Qi J, Guo P, et al. Equivalent magnetic dipole method for designing gradient coils of the halbach magnetic resonance device. Appl Electromagnet Mech, 2018, 56(4): 595-604.
16.	白烨, 王秋良, 余运佳, 等. 一种基于目标场法的球型线圈设计方法. 中国电机工程学报, 2004, 24(6): 132-136.
17.	Chen Q, Xu Y, Chang Y, et al. Design and optimization of a four-channel received coil for vertical-field MRI. Appl Magn Reson, 2016, 47(10): 1147-1158.
18.	Xuan L, Kong X, Wu J, et al. A smoothly-connected crescent transverse gradient coil design for 50mT MRI system. Appl Magn Reson, 2021, 52(6): 649-660.
19.	Shen S, Koonjoo N, Kong X, et al. Gradient coil design and optimization for an ultra-low-field MRI system. Appl Magn Reson, 2022, 53: 895-914.
20.	王昌, 秦鑫, 刘艳, 等. 一种自适应惯性权重粒子群算法在磁共振图像偏移场矫正中的应用. 生物医学工程学杂志, 2016, 33(3): 564-569.
21.	刘柳, 刘胜道, 何保委. 基于粒子群优化算法的线圈系统设计. 计算技术与自动化, 2021, 40(3): 84-87.
22.	Shen S, Xu Z, Koonjoo N, et al. Optimization of a close-fitting volume RF coil for brain imaging at 6.5 mT using linear programming. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng, 2021, 68(4): 1106-1114.
23.	Gu X Q. The least-square method in complex number domain. Prog Nat Sci, 2006, 16: 307-312.
24.	Haacke E M, Brown R W, Thompson M R, et al. Magnetic resonance imaging: Physical principles and sequence design. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 1999: 272-280.
25.	Su J, Pellicer-Guridi R, Edwards T, et al. A CNN based software gradiometer for electromagnetic background noise reduction in low field MRI applications. IEEE Trans Med Imaging, 2022, 41(5): 1007-1016.
26.	Javed A, Ramasawmy R, O’Brien K, et al. Self-gated 3D stack-of-spirals UTE pulmonary imaging at 0. 55T. Magn Reson Med, 2022, 87(4): 1784-1798.
27.	Zhang Y, He W, Chen F, et al. Denoise ultra-low-field 3D magnetic resonance images using a joint signal-image domain filter. J Magn Reson, 2022, 344: 107319.
28.	李中源, 李光, 孙翌, 等. 一种基于全局字典学习的小动物低剂量计算机断层扫描降噪方法. 生物医学工程学杂志, 2016, 33(2): 279-286.
29.	王华东, 孙挺. 变换域多尺度信息蒸馏网络的医学影像超分辨率重建. 生物医学工程学杂志, 2022, 39(5): 887-896.
30.	Iglesias J E, Schleicher R, Laguna S, et al. Accurate super-resolution low-field brain MRI. arXiv e-prints, 2022: 2202.03564.

1. Sarracanie M, Lapierre C D, Salameh N, et al. Low-cost high-performance MRI. Sci Rep, 2015(5): 15177.
2. He Yucheng, He Wei, Tan Liang, et al. Use of 2. 1 MHz MRI scanner for brain imaging and its preliminary results in stroke. J Magn Reson, 2020, 319: 106829.
3. O’Reilly T, Teeuwisse W M, Webb A G, et al. In vivo 3D brain and extremity MRI at 50 mT using a permanent magnet Halbach array. Magn Reson Med, 2020, 85(1): 495-505.
4. Sheth K N, Mazurek M H, Yuen M M, et al. Assessment of brain injury using portable, low-field magnetic resonance imaging at the bedside of critically ill patients. JAMA Neurol, 2021, 78: 41-47.
5. Mazurek M H, Cahn B A, Yuen M M, et al. Portable, bedside, low-field magnetic resonance imaging for evaluation of intracerebral hemorrhage. Nat Commun, 2021, 12: 5119.
6. Liu Y, Leong A T L, Zhao Y, et al. A low-cost and shielding-free ultra-low-field brain MRI scanner. Nat Commun, 2021, 12: 7238.
7. Restivo M C, Ramasawmy R, Bandettini W P, et al. Efficient spiral in-out and EPI balanced steady-state free precession cine imaging using a high-performance 0. 55T MRI. Magn Reson Med, 2020, 84(5): 2364-2375.
8. 贺中华, 何为, 贺玉成, 等. 皮肤烧伤深度检测的单边核磁共振浅层成像磁体系统. 电工技术学报, 2019, 34(3): 449-458.
9. 郭盼, 何为, Juan C, 等. 一种新型 Inside-Out 核磁共振传感器-三圆柱磁体阵列. 电工技术学报, 2016, 31(8): 96-101.
10. 王洪一. 头部超低场磁共振装置的主磁体结构研究. 重庆: 重庆大学, 2020.
11. Marble A E, Mastikhin I V, Colpitts B G, et al. A constant gradient unilateral magnet for near-surface MRI profiling. J Magn Reson, 2006, 183(2): 228-234.
12. He Wei, He Zhonghua. A hybrid passive shimming method applied to the design of a unilateral NMR magnet. Int J Appl Electromagn Mech, 2015, 49(4): 597-606.
13. 王轶楠. 核磁成像的无源被动匀场研究分析. 现代制造技术与装备, 2019, 270(5): 89-90.
14. 田录林, 贾嵘, 杨国清, 等. 永磁铁磁贴合体的磁场及磁力. 电工技术学报, 2008, 23(6): 7-13.
15. Xu Z, Qi J, Guo P, et al. Equivalent magnetic dipole method for designing gradient coils of the halbach magnetic resonance device. Appl Electromagnet Mech, 2018, 56(4): 595-604.
16. 白烨, 王秋良, 余运佳, 等. 一种基于目标场法的球型线圈设计方法. 中国电机工程学报, 2004, 24(6): 132-136.
17. Chen Q, Xu Y, Chang Y, et al. Design and optimization of a four-channel received coil for vertical-field MRI. Appl Magn Reson, 2016, 47(10): 1147-1158.
18. Xuan L, Kong X, Wu J, et al. A smoothly-connected crescent transverse gradient coil design for 50mT MRI system. Appl Magn Reson, 2021, 52(6): 649-660.
19. Shen S, Koonjoo N, Kong X, et al. Gradient coil design and optimization for an ultra-low-field MRI system. Appl Magn Reson, 2022, 53: 895-914.
20. 王昌, 秦鑫, 刘艳, 等. 一种自适应惯性权重粒子群算法在磁共振图像偏移场矫正中的应用. 生物医学工程学杂志, 2016, 33(3): 564-569.
21. 刘柳, 刘胜道, 何保委. 基于粒子群优化算法的线圈系统设计. 计算技术与自动化, 2021, 40(3): 84-87.
22. Shen S, Xu Z, Koonjoo N, et al. Optimization of a close-fitting volume RF coil for brain imaging at 6.5 mT using linear programming. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng, 2021, 68(4): 1106-1114.
23. Gu X Q. The least-square method in complex number domain. Prog Nat Sci, 2006, 16: 307-312.
24. Haacke E M, Brown R W, Thompson M R, et al. Magnetic resonance imaging: Physical principles and sequence design. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 1999: 272-280.
25. Su J, Pellicer-Guridi R, Edwards T, et al. A CNN based software gradiometer for electromagnetic background noise reduction in low field MRI applications. IEEE Trans Med Imaging, 2022, 41(5): 1007-1016.
26. Javed A, Ramasawmy R, O’Brien K, et al. Self-gated 3D stack-of-spirals UTE pulmonary imaging at 0. 55T. Magn Reson Med, 2022, 87(4): 1784-1798.
27. Zhang Y, He W, Chen F, et al. Denoise ultra-low-field 3D magnetic resonance images using a joint signal-image domain filter. J Magn Reson, 2022, 344: 107319.
28. 李中源, 李光, 孙翌, 等. 一种基于全局字典学习的小动物低剂量计算机断层扫描降噪方法. 生物医学工程学杂志, 2016, 33(2): 279-286.
29. 王华东, 孙挺. 变换域多尺度信息蒸馏网络的医学影像超分辨率重建. 生物医学工程学杂志, 2022, 39(5): 887-896.
30. Iglesias J E, Schleicher R, Laguna S, et al. Accurate super-resolution low-field brain MRI. arXiv e-prints, 2022: 2202.03564.

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