Modular MRI Body Coil Assembly with Staggered Shielding
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for an improved body coil for MRI systems that can be easily assembled, disassembled, and reassembled for maintenance, shipping, and operation, while maintaining efficient RF signal transmission and reception.
Innovation Solution
The development of a body-coil assembly system comprising multiple body-coil portions that can be overlapped and concentrically arranged, with built-in preamplifiers, power amplifiers, and tunable circuitry, allowing for repeatable assembly and disassembly, and featuring RF shielding with staggered conductors for improved signal integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of repair
If a conventional integrated body coil is used, then RF signal transmission and reception is efficient, but maintenance and shipping become difficult and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The body coil is divided into multiple modular segments that can be independently removed, replaced, or serviced. Each segment contains discrete components (RF coils, preamplifiers, power amplifiers, tunable circuitry) that can be accessed and maintained separately, eliminating the need to service the entire coil assembly as a single unit.
2Ease of manufacture
If a conventional integrated body coil is used, then RF signal transmission and reception is efficient, but shipping costs and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The coil assembly is segmented into transportable modules that can be shipped separately and assembled at the destination. This reduces shipping volume, weight, and cost while allowing for efficient packaging and handling of individual segments rather than a large integrated structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular segments are designed to nest within each other or collapse into compact configurations for shipping, maximizing space utilization and reducing the overall shipping footprint while maintaining the complete functional assembly when deployed.
3Reliability
If the entire body coil must be serviced, then system integrity is maintained, but maintenance time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The segmented architecture allows isolation of defective components to specific modules, enabling targeted maintenance that preserves the functionality of unaffected segments. This maintains overall system integrity while significantly reducing maintenance time by avoiding unnecessary disassembly and servicing of functional components.
4Ease of operation
If modular portions are used, then ease of maintenance and shipping is improved, but RF signal transmission quality may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The modular segments are designed with interfaces that electrically and mechanically combine to form a continuous, integrated RF signal path. Connection elements, shielding, and grounding structures are configured to minimize signal loss, reflection, and interference at segment boundaries, ensuring that the assembled modular coil performs equivalently to an integrated design.
Solution Approach 2:
The interfaces between modular segments are designed with specialized local features (precision connectors, localized shielding, impedance-matching elements) that optimize RF signal transmission at connection points. These localized quality enhancements ensure that the segmentation does not compromise overall signal integrity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables easier maintenance, reduced shipping costs, and improved RF signal quality by allowing individual body-coil portions to be replaced or serviced without affecting the entire system, while maintaining efficient RF signal transmission and reception.
Implementation Method 1
body-coil portions that can be easily assemble-able into a body-coil assembly... wherein the body-coil portions are optionally usable individually as transmit (TX) and/or receive (RX) coil elements for MRI
Implementation Method 2
body-coil assembly (e.g., in some embodiments, a cylindrical body-coil assembly) with shield elements that are overlapped and/or concentric
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for receiving (RX) radio-frequency (RF) signals suitable for MRI and/or MRS from a plurality of MRI “coil elements” (antennae), each contained in one or a plurality of body-coil parts, wherein the body-coil parts are easily assemble-able into a body-coil assembly (e.g., in some embodiments, a cylindrical body-coil assembly) with shield elements that are overlapped and/or concentric, and wherein the body-coil assembly is readily disassemble-able for easier shipping, and wherein the body-coil parts are optionally usable individually as transmit (TX) and/or receive (RX) coil elements for MRI. In some embodiments, the system provides for repeatable assembly and disassembly for ease of maintenance (such as frequency tuning and impedance matching) such that the body-coil assembly can be fully assembled and tested, then taken apart for less costly and easier shipping (with reduced risk of damage) and then reassembled at the destination for operation in an MRI system.