A single-board integrated network direct connected nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer

Abstract

This utility model belongs to the field of medical electronic equipment technology, specifically disclosing a single-board integrated network-connected nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, including an embedded industrial control computer and a single-board spectrometer scanning control board, with an Ethernet connection established between the embedded industrial control computer and the single-board spectrometer scanning control board. This utility model integrates radio frequency transmission, gradient control, data acquisition, and the main control chip onto a single circuit board, reducing the overall size while achieving real-time coordination of various functional circuits, thus achieving miniaturization and high integration to meet the space constraints of clinical and portable nuclear magnetic resonance systems. It replaces the traditional PCIe board communication scheme with high-speed Ethernet, eliminating the cost of PCIe boards, dedicated cables, and modules, reducing the total cost of the communication module. Single-board integration eliminates cable bridging between multiple boards, significantly reducing cable usage, shortening signal transmission paths, reducing signal attenuation and crosstalk risks, and improving system reliability.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model belongs to the field of medical electronic equipment technology, specifically relating to a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer with a single-board integrated network direct connection. Background Technology

[0002] The nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer is the core control component of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device. It is responsible for generating radio frequency signals for radio frequency excitation and gradient waveform signals for spatial positioning, controlling the power devices of the MRI device, receiving MRI signals acquired from the radio frequency receiving coil, performing a series of signal processing steps, and sending them to the computer system to reconstruct and generate MRI images.

[0003] Current nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers generally employ a multi-board architecture, characterized by separating functions such as radio frequency (RF) transmission, gradient control, and signal acquisition into independent boards, which are physically interconnected via a backplane bus plug-in structure or fiber optic interface. This architecture suffers from the following significant drawbacks: large size and low integration. The fiber optic communication boards rely on a PCIe-based industrial computer platform as the control core, with typical industrial computer platforms measuring ≥450×400×180mm (standard 4U chassis). Adding independent RF and gradient control boards further increases the overall size, making it difficult to meet the space constraints of clinical and portable NMR systems.

[0004] As the precision control core of a magnetic resonance imaging system, the nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer's operating mechanism places stringent requirements on timing synchronization accuracy and phase coherence, necessitating the coordinated control of three major functional modules: gradient field manipulation, radio frequency excitation pulse generation, and echo signal acquisition. However, traditional multi-daughter card architectures suffer from systemic defects in addressing these requirements. The use of physically isolated independent boards for the gradient drive, radio frequency generation, and signal receiving subsystems leads to complex spectrometer system connections and unreliable connections between modules, causing challenges to system integration and stability. Furthermore, the increased number of interconnecting interfaces also raises the spectrometer's cost. Utility Model Content

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to provide a single-board integrated network direct-connected nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer to solve the above-mentioned problems existing in the prior art.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0007] This utility model provides a single-board integrated network direct-connect nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, including an embedded industrial control computer and a single-board spectrometer scanning control board. An Ethernet connection is established between the embedded industrial control computer and the single-board spectrometer scanning control board. The embedded industrial control computer is used to send scanning sequence commands to the single-board spectrometer scanning control board, and the single-board spectrometer scanning control board is used to execute the scanning sequence commands and feed back magnetic resonance signals to the embedded industrial control computer.

[0008] In one possible design, the single-board spectrometer scanning control board integrates a main control chip, a synchronous clock source circuit, an RF transmitting circuit, a receiving circuit, and a gradient control circuit. The main control chip is connected to the synchronous clock source circuit, the RF transmitting circuit, the receiving circuit, and the gradient control circuit, respectively. The main control chip establishes an Ethernet connection with an embedded industrial computer to receive scanning sequence commands sent by the embedded industrial computer and control the working state of the RF transmitting circuit, the receiving circuit, and the gradient control circuit according to the scanning sequence commands. The synchronous clock source circuit provides synchronous clock signals to the main control chip, the RF transmitting circuit, the receiving circuit, and the gradient control circuit. The gradient control circuit generates gradient control signals. The RF transmitting circuit outputs RF pulse signals. The receiving circuit receives magnetic resonance signals and transmits the magnetic resonance signals to the main control chip.

[0009] In one possible design, the main control chip is an FPGA chip.

[0010] In one possible design, the synchronous clock source circuit includes an interconnected crystal oscillator and clock distribution chip.

[0011] In one possible design, the RF transmitting circuit includes a dual-channel 16-bit high-speed digital-to-analog converter.

[0012] In one possible design, the receiving circuitry includes two dual-channel 14-bit analog-to-digital converters.

[0013] In one possible design, the gradient control circuit includes three sets of gradient drive circuits, each containing two 18-bit digital-to-analog converters.

[0014] In one possible design, the main control chip is connected to an Ethernet physical layer interface circuit, and establishes an Ethernet connection with an embedded industrial control computer through the Ethernet physical layer interface circuit.

[0015] In one possible design, the main control chip is also connected to an RF gated output circuit, an ECG gated input circuit, and a respiration gated input circuit. The RF gated output circuit is used to control the output on / off of RF pulse signals, the ECG gated input circuit is used to control the input on / off of external ECG signals, and the respiration gated input circuit is used to control the input on / off of external respiration signals. The main control chip is also used to transmit the input external ECG signals and / or external respiration signals to an embedded industrial computer.

[0016] In one possible design, the main control chip is also connected to an indicator light driver circuit and a storage module.

[0017] Beneficial effects: This invention integrates radio frequency transmission, gradient control, data acquisition, and the main control chip onto a single circuit board, reducing size while achieving real-time coordination of various functional circuits. This achieves the design goals of miniaturization and high integration, meeting the space constraints of clinical and portable MRI systems. This invention replaces the traditional PCIe board communication solution with high-speed Ethernet, eliminating the cost of PCIe boards, dedicated cables, and modules, thus reducing the total cost of the communication module. This invention eliminates cable bridging between multiple boards through single-board integration, significantly reducing cable usage, shortening signal transmission paths, reducing signal attenuation and crosstalk risks, and improving system reliability. Attached Figure Description

[0018] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this utility model or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this utility model. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of this utility model;

[0020] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a single-board spectrometer scanning control board;

[0021] Figure 3 This is a circuit diagram of the Ethernet physical layer interface circuit. Detailed Implementation

[0022] It should be noted that the descriptions of these embodiments are intended to aid in understanding the present invention, but do not constitute a limitation thereof. The specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are merely for describing exemplary embodiments of the present invention. However, the present invention may be embodied in many alternative forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described herein.

[0023] It should be understood that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the corresponding terms should be interpreted broadly. For example, "connection" can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be an electrical connection, a direct connection, or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; it can also refer to the internal connection between two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in the embodiments according to the specific circumstances.

[0024] Specific details are provided in the following description to provide a complete understanding of the exemplary embodiments. However, those skilled in the art will understand that the exemplary embodiments can be implemented without these specific details. For example, the system may be shown in block diagrams to avoid obscuring the example with unnecessary details. In other embodiments, well-known processes, structures, and techniques may be shown without non-essential details to avoid obscuring the embodiments.

[0025] Example:

[0026] This embodiment provides a single-board integrated network-connected nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, such as... Figure 1 As shown, it includes an embedded industrial control computer and a single-board spectrometer scanning control board. An Ethernet connection is established between the embedded industrial control computer and the single-board spectrometer scanning control board. The embedded industrial control computer is used to send scanning sequence commands to the single-board spectrometer scanning control board, and the single-board spectrometer scanning control board is used to execute the scanning sequence commands and to feed back magnetic resonance signals to the embedded industrial control computer.

[0027] In practice, the embedded industrial computer can send scanning sequence commands (including RF pulse timing, gradient field parameters, etc.) to the single-board spectrometer scanning control board via a gigabit / megabit Ethernet interface to ensure the precise execution of the scanning process. The single-board scanning control board receives the scanning sequence commands from the embedded industrial computer, saves and parses different types of hardware execution data in the commands, and allocates them to various functional units within the single board for execution. Simultaneously, the single-board scanning control board acquires magnetic resonance signals according to the commands, processes them (such as analog-to-digital conversion), and then uploads them to the embedded industrial computer via the Ethernet interface, enabling the embedded industrial computer to use the magnetic resonance signals for magnetic resonance image reconstruction and post-processing.

[0028] Furthermore, such as Figure 2As shown, the single-board spectrometer scanning control board integrates a main control chip, a synchronous clock source circuit, an RF transmitting circuit, a receiving circuit, and a gradient control circuit. The main control chip is connected to the synchronous clock source circuit, the RF transmitting circuit, the receiving circuit, and the gradient control circuit, respectively. The main control chip establishes an Ethernet connection with the embedded industrial control computer to receive scanning sequence commands sent by the embedded industrial control computer and control the working state of the RF transmitting circuit, the receiving circuit, and the gradient control circuit according to the scanning sequence commands. The synchronous clock source circuit provides synchronous clock signals to the main control chip, the RF transmitting circuit, the receiving circuit, and the gradient control circuit. The gradient control circuit generates gradient control signals. The RF transmitting circuit outputs RF pulse signals. The receiving circuit receives magnetic resonance signals and transmits the magnetic resonance signals to the main control chip.

[0029] The main control chip can be an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) chip, whose core advantages lie in its parallel computing capabilities, hardware programmability, and low-latency response, which can meet the stringent requirements of nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers for timing synchronization accuracy and phase coherence. The FPGA parses the scan sequence instructions transmitted through the network interface, distinguishes the execution instruction types of different hardware, and performs storage operations and configuration operations accordingly to control the working state of each functional circuit (including the RF transmitting circuit, receiving circuit, and gradient control circuit).

[0030] The synchronous clock source circuit includes an interconnected temperature-controlled crystal oscillator and a high-performance clock distribution chip. The temperature-controlled crystal oscillator provides a synchronous clock source with ultra-high frequency stability (≤±0.1ppm) and low phase noise and jitter (≤-170dBc / Hz). The clock distribution chip then generates multiple high-precision synchronous clock signals, which are distributed to the FPGA, RF transmitting circuit, receiving circuit, gradient control circuit, and some external devices. The PCB routing of the clock signals allocated to each functional circuit can use a serpentine routing method to ensure equal length of clock lines, maintaining clock coherence between circuits and components, and ensuring precise timing alignment of the modules working together to improve the accuracy of sequence scanning and subsequent image quality.

[0031] The radio frequency (RF) transmitting circuit includes a dual-channel 16-bit high-speed digital-to-analog converter (DAC), forming a dual-channel RF transmitting circuit. The FPGA can configure the internal registers of the high-speed DAC via the SPI bus to dynamically adjust core parameters such as PLL bandwidth, output gain, and clock synchronization edge, ensuring the accuracy and stability of RF signal generation. The RF transmitting circuit mainly implements high-speed digital-to-analog conversion and RF signal generation functions, producing precisely controlled RF pulse signals for an externally connected RF amplifier. These RF pulse signals, after RF amplification, can be used to excite hydrogen proton resonance within the human body, forming a magnetization vector deflection.

[0032] The receiving circuit includes two dual-channel 14-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), forming a 4-channel receiving circuit. The FPGA can access the internal memory-mapped registers via the SPI interface to set the operating mode (such as single-ended / differential input, sampling rate selection) and gain control parameters to adapt to different signal acquisition scenarios. The RF receiving circuit receives the magnetic resonance signal from the RF front end and achieves wideband, high-precision signal acquisition and processing through low-noise amplification, frequency conversion, dynamic range optimization, and digital processing.

[0033] The gradient control circuit includes three sets of gradient driving circuits, each containing two 18-bit digital-to-analog converters. The FPGA can collaboratively generate high-precision gradient waveforms and pre-emphasis compensation signals (i.e., gradient control signals) through precise SPI timing control, register configuration, and noise optimization of the gradient driving circuit's digital-to-analog converters. These gradient control signals are then output to an externally connected gradient system (including X, Y, and Z gradient amplifiers) to achieve rapid switching of the gradient field in the gradient system.

[0034] The main control chip is connected to, as follows: Figure 3 The diagram shows an Ethernet physical layer interface circuit, which establishes an Ethernet connection with an embedded industrial control computer. The Ethernet physical layer interface circuit uses a Marvell 88E1111 or other SGMII-compatible PHY (port physical layer) chip, connecting to the FPGA via a high-speed SGMII (Serial Gigabit Media Independent Interface) interface. The FPGA integrates a dedicated IP core to implement core functions such as data frame encapsulation / decapsulation, CRC check, address filtering, and flow control, forming a complete Ethernet communication link. The theoretical rate can reach 1000 Mbps, meeting the data transmission requirements of a 4-channel spectrometer. In SGMII mode, the PHY extracts the clock signal from the input data stream through a clock recovery (CDR) mechanism, eliminating the need for an external TX_CLK input and significantly reducing pin usage (only TX / RX differential pairs and MDIO / MDC are required). This design optimizes board routing complexity and reduces electromagnetic interference (EMI) and noise sensitivity. The SGMII differential pairs (S_OUT+ / -, S_IN+ / -) employ 50Ω impedance matching and equal-length wiring, combined with the FPGA's LVDS I / O Bank to enhance anti-interference capabilities.

[0035] The main control chip is also connected to an RF gating output circuit, an ECG gating input circuit, and a respiration gating input circuit. The RF gating output circuit controls the on / off output of RF pulse signals, the ECG gating input circuit controls the on / off input of external ECG signals, and the respiration gating input circuit controls the on / off input of external respiration signals. The main control chip also transmits the input external ECG signals and / or external respiration signals to the embedded industrial computer. The gating interfaces of each gating circuit can use ST interfaces (Straight Tip Connectors). ST interfaces are industrial standard fiber optic connection ports, featuring high reliability and easy plugging / unplugging, ensuring signal stability in the system. They also support SMA interfaces, providing good compatibility.

[0036] The main control chip is also connected to an indicator light driver circuit and a storage module. The storage module (such as DDR3 memory) can be used to store the configuration parameters of the main control chip. The indicator light driver circuit can use an 8-bit dual-power bus transceiver to drive the corresponding LED indicator light. It can support an external status display board to display the working status of the nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer in real time.

[0037] Finally, it should be noted that the above description is merely a preferred embodiment of this utility model and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this utility model. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of this utility model should be included within the scope of protection of this utility model.

Claims

1. A nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer with a single-board integrated network direct connection, characterized in that, The system includes an embedded industrial computer and a single-board spectrometer scanning control board. An Ethernet connection is established between the embedded industrial computer and the single-board spectrometer scanning control board. The embedded industrial computer is used to send scanning sequence commands to the single-board spectrometer scanning control board, and the single-board spectrometer scanning control board is used to execute the scanning sequence commands and to feed back magnetic resonance signals to the embedded industrial computer.

2. The nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer with a single-board integrated network direct connection according to claim 1, characterized in that, The single-board spectrometer scanning control board integrates a main control chip, a synchronous clock source circuit, an RF transmitting circuit, a receiving circuit, and a gradient control circuit. The main control chip is connected to the synchronous clock source circuit, the RF transmitting circuit, the receiving circuit, and the gradient control circuit, respectively. The main control chip establishes an Ethernet connection with the embedded industrial control computer to receive scanning sequence commands sent by the embedded industrial control computer and control the working state of the RF transmitting circuit, the receiving circuit, and the gradient control circuit according to the scanning sequence commands. The synchronous clock source circuit provides synchronous clock signals to the main control chip, the RF transmitting circuit, the receiving circuit, and the gradient control circuit. The gradient control circuit generates gradient control signals. The RF transmitting circuit outputs RF pulse signals. The receiving circuit receives magnetic resonance signals and transmits the magnetic resonance signals to the main control chip.

3. The nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer with single-board integrated network direct connection according to claim 2, characterized in that, The main control chip is an FPGA chip.

4. A single-board integrated network direct-connected nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer according to claim 2, characterized in that, The synchronous clock source circuit includes a crystal oscillator and a clock distribution chip that are interconnected.

5. A single-board integrated network direct-connected nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer according to claim 2, characterized in that, The radio frequency transmitting circuit includes a dual-channel 16-bit high-speed digital-to-analog converter.

6. A single-board integrated network direct-connected nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer according to claim 2, characterized in that, The receiving circuit includes two dual-channel 14-bit analog-to-digital converters.

7. A single-board integrated network direct-connected nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer according to claim 2, characterized in that, The gradient control circuit includes three sets of gradient driving circuits, each set of gradient driving circuits containing two 18-bit digital-to-analog converters.

8. A single-board integrated network direct-connected nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer according to claim 2, characterized in that, The main control chip is connected to an Ethernet physical layer interface circuit, and establishes an Ethernet connection with the embedded industrial control computer through the Ethernet physical layer interface circuit.

9. A single-board integrated network direct-connected nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer according to claim 2, characterized in that, The main control chip is also connected to a radio frequency gated output circuit, an electrocardiogram (ECG) gated input circuit, and a respiratory gated input circuit. The radio frequency gated output circuit is used to control the output on / off of radio frequency pulse signals. The ECG gated input circuit is used to control the input on / off of external ECG signals. The respiratory gated input circuit is used to control the input on / off of external respiratory signals. The main control chip is also used to transmit the input external ECG signals and / or external respiratory signals to the embedded industrial computer.

10. A single-board integrated network direct-connected nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer according to claim 2, characterized in that, The main control chip is also connected to an indicator light driver circuit and a storage module.

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