MRI gradient coil cooling device

Abstract

The utility model relates to an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) gradient coil cooling device, which is characterized in that a cooling pipeline is spirally wound in a gradient coil along the axial direction of the gradient coil and is used for cooling the gradient coil; a medium inlet of the cooling pipeline is provided with an air inlet pipeline communicated with the cooling pipeline; a medium outlet of the cooling pipeline is provided with an exhaust pipeline communicated with the cooling pipeline; the air inlet pipeline is sequentially provided with a cooling machine and an air compressor in the direction away from the cooling pipeline and used for inputting low-temperature air into the cooling pipeline. The gradient coil has the advantages that the working time limit of the gradient coil can be greatly prolonged, the service life of equipment is prolonged, the use cost is greatly reduced, short circuit of lines is avoided, safety accidents are avoided, and the safety of the equipment is improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of MRI, specifically relates to a MRI gradient coil cooling device. BACKGROUND

[0002] MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) is an imaging technique widely used in medical diagnosis, which uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to generate high-resolution images of the body. By detecting the magnetic properties of atomic nuclei (especially hydrogen atoms) in the human body, MRI can obtain accurate image information. As a safe, non-invasive and high-resolution imaging technique, MRI plays an important role in the medical field.

[0003] Gradient coil is one of the core components of MRI imaging system, which encodes space by precisely controlling magnetic field gradient, helping the system to obtain clear and high-quality images. The performance of gradient coil not only directly affects the imaging resolution and image quality, but also is closely related to the scanning speed and other imaging functions. However, since gradient coil needs to change current quickly during work, which generates a large amount of heat, so it must be equipped with an effective cooling system to ensure the stable operation of the equipment and prevent overheating from affecting image quality and equipment life.

[0004] At present, the cooling of MRI gradient coil usually adopts spiral winding cooling pipeline in it, and the cooling water is circulated through the pipeline to cool down. Although this cooling method is effective, the cooling water may cause corrosion to the cooling pipeline after a long time of flowing, resulting in pipeline leakage after about 10 years of use. Once the gradient coil leaks, not only the replacement cost is high, but also the cooling water may seep into the equipment, causing short circuit of the circuit, and further causing fire and other safety hazards. UTILITY MODEL CONTENTS

[0005] Therefore, the utility model provides a MRI gradient coil cooling device, which mainly solves the technical problems that the existing MRI gradient coil uses circulating cooling water to cool down, which may cause corrosion to the cooling pipeline, resulting in short equipment life, high use cost, and the cooling water may seep into the equipment, causing short circuit of the circuit, and further causing fire and other safety hazards.

[0006] In order to achieve the above purpose, the utility model provides the following technical scheme:

[0007] The utility model relates to a kind of MRI gradient coil cooling device, cooling pipe is spirally wound in the gradient coil along its axial direction in the gradient coil, for the gradient coil cooling;The medium inlet of the cooling pipe is equipped with the air inlet pipe communicated with it;The medium outlet of the cooling pipe is equipped with the air outlet pipe communicated with it;The air inlet pipe is sequentially equipped with cooling machine and air compressor in the direction away from the cooling pipe, for input low-temperature air to the cooling pipe.

[0008] Preferably, the air inlet pipe between the cooling machine and the air compressor is equipped with a dryer.

[0009] Preferably, the air inlet pipe between the cooling machine and the medium inlet is equipped with a first pneumatic valve.

[0010] Preferably, the outer wall of the gradient coil in the medium inlet area is equipped with a thermometer for collecting the temperature of the gradient coil.

[0011] Preferably, a control unit is further provided; the control unit is electrically connected with the thermometer and the first pneumatic valve respectively, obtains the temperature value collected by the thermometer, and controls the opening size of the first pneumatic valve.

[0012] Preferably, the air inlet pipe between the first pneumatic valve and the medium inlet is equipped with an air flow meter.

[0013] Preferably, the air outlet pipe is equipped with a third pneumatic valve.

[0014] Preferably, the medium outlet of the cooling pipe is equipped with a drainage pipe communicated with it, for discharging condensed water when the cooling pipe is cooled; the drainage pipe is equipped with a second pneumatic valve.

[0015] The utility model at least has following beneficial effects:

[0016] The medium inlet of the cooling pipe is equipped with an air inlet pipe communicated with it, the medium outlet of the cooling pipe is equipped with an air outlet pipe communicated with it, and the air inlet pipe is sequentially equipped with a cooling machine and an air compressor in the direction away from the cooling pipe. In this way, the high-pressure air made by the air compressor is cooled to -15℃ to -5℃ low-temperature air through the pressure release cooling of the cooling machine, the -15℃ to -5℃ low-temperature air is input into the cooling pipe through the medium inlet to cool the gradient coil, and then discharged from the medium outlet into the air outlet pipe, so as to circulate to cool the gradient coil. The gradient coil is cooled by the -15℃ to -5℃ low-temperature air, and the actual working temperature is about 35℃, which fully meets the design requirement that the working temperature is lower than 80℃. Since the low-temperature air does not cause corrosion to the cooling pipe, the working time of the gradient coil can be greatly prolonged, the service life of the equipment is prolonged, the use cost is greatly reduced, air leakage does not cause short circuit of the line, safety accidents are avoided, and the safety of the equipment is improved.

[0017] Therefore, the MRI gradient coil cooling device has the advantages of greatly improving the working time limit of the gradient coil, prolonging the service life of the equipment, greatly reducing the use cost, not causing a short circuit of the circuit, avoiding safety accidents, improving the safety of the equipment, and the like. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0018] In order to more clearly illustrate the prior art and the present application, the drawings needed in the description of the prior art and the embodiments of the present application will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only exemplary, and those skilled in the art can also obtain other drawings from the provided drawings without creating creative labor.

[0019] The structures, proportions, sizes, and the like shown in the specification are only used to cooperate with the content disclosed in the specification for understanding and reading by those skilled in the art, and are not used to limit the limiting conditions of the implementation of the present application. Any modification of the structure, change of the proportion relationship, or adjustment of the size, without affecting the effects and purposes that can be achieved by the present application, should still fall within the scope of the technical content disclosed by the present application.

[0020] Figure 1 is a structural composition schematic diagram of the MRI gradient coil cooling device of the present application;

[0021] Figure 2 is a frame composition schematic diagram of the control unit of the MRI gradient coil cooling device of the present application;

[0022] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0023] 1, gradient coil; 2, cooling pipeline; 201, medium inlet; 202, medium outlet; 3, air compressor; 4, dryer; 5, cooling machine; 6, first pneumatic valve; 7, air flow meter; 8, second pneumatic valve; 9, third pneumatic valve; 10, air inlet pipeline; 11, exhaust pipeline; 12, drain pipeline. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The present application will be further described in detail below by specific embodiments in combination with the drawings.

[0025] In the description of the present application: unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "multiple" is two or more. The terms "first", "second", "third", and the like in the present application are intended to distinguish the objects referred to, and do not have special meanings in the technical connotation aspect (for example, it should not be understood as emphasizing the importance or order, etc.). The expressions "include", "contain", "have", and the like also mean "not limited to" (certain units, components, materials, steps, and the like).

[0026] The terms such as "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "middle" and the like cited in the present application are generally for the convenience of intuitive understanding with reference to the drawings, and are not absolute limitations on the positional relationship in the actual product. Changes in these relative positional relationships are also considered within the scope of the present application without departing from the technical concept disclosed in the present application.

[0027] The MRI gradient coil cooling device of the utility model, as shown in the figure, Figure 1 , Figure 2 The gradient coil 1 is spirally wound with a cooling pipeline 2 along its axial direction, and the cooling pipeline 2 is usually coated with epoxy resin. Both of them are known to those skilled in the art and will not be described here. The medium inlet 201 of the cooling pipeline 2 is provided with an air inlet pipeline 10 in communication therewith, and the medium outlet 202 of the cooling pipeline 2 is provided with an air outlet pipeline 11 in communication therewith. The air inlet pipeline 10 is sequentially provided with a cooling machine 5 and an air compressor 3 away from the cooling pipeline 2. The cooling machine 5 and the air compressor 3 are both selected from commercially available products, and their structures and working principles will not be described here. In this way, the high-pressure air produced by the air compressor 3 is cooled by the cooling machine 5 to become low-temperature air at -15℃ to -5℃, which is input into the cooling pipeline 2 through the medium inlet 201 to cool the gradient coil 1, and then discharged into the air outlet pipeline 11 through the medium outlet 202, so as to circulate and cool the gradient coil 1. After the gradient coil 1 is cooled by the low-temperature air at -15℃ to -5℃, the actual working temperature is about 35℃, which fully meets the design requirement that the working temperature is lower than 80℃. Since the low-temperature air does not cause corrosion to the cooling pipeline 2, the working time of the gradient coil 1 can be greatly prolonged, the service life of the equipment can be extended, the use cost can be greatly reduced, air leakage will not cause short circuit of the circuit, safety accidents can be avoided, and the safety of the equipment can be improved.

[0028] Preferably, the compressed air produced by the air compressor 3 often contains a large amount of moisture. In order to remove the moisture, the air inlet pipeline 10 between the cooling machine 5 and the air compressor 3 is provided with a drying machine 4. The drying machine 4 is also selected from commercially available products, and its structure and working principle will not be described here. The moisture in the air is removed by the drying machine 4 to avoid the influence of excessive condensate on the operation of the system when the gradient coil 1 is cooled.

[0029] Preferably, in order to control the low-temperature air, the air inlet pipeline 10 between the cooling machine 5 and the medium inlet 201 is provided with a first pneumatic valve 6. The flow of the low-temperature air can be controlled by the size of the first pneumatic valve 6.

[0030] Preferably, a thermometer is arranged on the outer wall of the gradient coil 1 in the region of the medium inlet 201 for collecting the temperature of the gradient coil 1 and monitoring the temperature condition of the gradient coil 1.

[0031] Preferably, in order to automatically control the temperature of the gradient coil 1, a control unit is further provided, which is electrically connected with the thermometer and the first pneumatic valve 6 respectively, acquires the temperature value collected by the thermometer, and controls the opening size of the first pneumatic valve 6, i.e. when the temperature value collected by the thermometer is greater than a threshold value, the temperature of the gradient coil 1 is too high, the control unit drives the first pneumatic valve 6 to open and increase, so that more low-temperature air flows into the cooling pipeline 2; when the temperature value collected by the thermometer is less than the threshold value, the temperature of the gradient coil 1 is low, at this time the control unit drives the first pneumatic valve 6 to open and decrease, so as to reduce the flow of low-temperature air flowing into the cooling pipeline 2, which also has the effect of energy saving.

[0032] Preferably, in order to monitor the flow of low-temperature air, an air flow meter 7 is arranged in the air inlet pipeline 10 between the first pneumatic valve 6 and the medium inlet 201.

[0033] Preferably, in order to prevent external air from entering the cooling pipeline 2 and causing damage thereto when the equipment is stopped, a third pneumatic valve 9 is arranged in the exhaust pipeline 11.

[0034] Preferably, in order to facilitate the discharge of condensed water in the cooling pipeline 2, a drain pipeline 12 is arranged in the medium outlet 202 of the cooling pipeline 2 and communicates with the cooling pipeline 2, the drain pipeline 12 is provided with a second pneumatic valve 8, and when the condensed water in the cooling pipeline 2 is discharged, the second pneumatic valve 8 is opened, and the condensed water is discharged from the drain pipeline 12.

[0035] It should be pointed out that the second pneumatic valve 8 and the third pneumatic valve 9 are often also electrically connected with the control unit, and the control unit controls the opening and closing of the second pneumatic valve 8 and the third pneumatic valve 9, i.e. when the equipment is working, the control unit controls the third pneumatic valve 9 to open; when the equipment is stopped, the control unit controls the third pneumatic valve 9 to close; when the condensed water is discharged, the control unit controls the second pneumatic valve 8 to open; and after the condensed water is discharged, the control unit controls the second pneumatic valve 8 to close.

[0036] The application is described in detail above through general description and specific embodiments. It should be understood that based on the technical concept of the application, some conventional adjustments or further innovations can also be made to these specific embodiments; however, as long as these conventional adjustments or further innovations do not deviate from the technical concept of the application, the technical solutions obtained thereby also fall within the protection scope of the claims of the application.

Claims

1. An MRI gradient coil cooling device, a cooling duct (2) is spirally wound in the gradient coil (1) along its axial direction for cooling the gradient coil (1), characterized in that, The medium inlet (201) of the cooling pipeline (2) is provided with an air inlet pipeline (10) communicated with the medium inlet (201); the medium outlet (202) of the cooling pipeline (2) is provided with an air outlet pipeline (11) communicated with the medium outlet (202); the air inlet pipeline (10) is sequentially provided with a cooling machine (5) and an air compressor (3) in the direction away from the cooling pipeline (2), for inputting low-temperature air into the cooling pipeline (2).

2. The MRI gradient coil cooling device of claim 1, wherein, The air inlet pipeline (10) between the cooling machine (5) and the air compressor (3) is provided with a drying machine (4).

3. The MRI gradient coil cooling device of claim 2, wherein, The air inlet pipeline (10) between the cooling machine (5) and the medium inlet (201) is provided with a first pneumatic valve (6).

4. The MRI gradient coil cooling device of claim 3, wherein, The outer wall of the gradient coil (1) in the region of the medium inlet (201) is provided with a thermometer for collecting the temperature of the gradient coil (1).

5. The MRI gradient coil cooling device of claim 4, wherein, A control unit is further provided; the control unit is electrically connected with the thermometer and the first pneumatic valve (6) respectively, acquires the temperature value collected by the thermometer, and controls the opening size of the first pneumatic valve (6).

6. The MRI gradient coil cooling device of claim 4, wherein, The air inlet pipeline (10) between the first pneumatic valve (6) and the medium inlet (201) is provided with an air flow meter (7).

7. The MRI gradient coil cooling apparatus of claim 4, wherein, The air outlet pipeline (11) is provided with a third pneumatic valve (9).

8. The MRI gradient coil cooling device of claim 4, wherein, The medium outlet (202) of the cooling pipeline (2) is provided with a drainage pipeline (12) communicated with the medium outlet (202), for discharging condensed water during the cooling of the cooling pipeline (2); the drainage pipeline (12) is provided with a second pneumatic valve (8).

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