Miniature Low-Noise High-Quality MRI Preamplifiers

简介(申请人提供)：微型低噪音高品质核磁共振前置放大器摘要作为一家拥有杰出核心技术人员的初创高科技公司，Future Instruments LLC的使命是成为第一个为核磁共振医疗系统行业设计、制造符合RoHS标准的新型“微型”前置放大器的工业集团。在这种强大的医学成像模式中，增长最快的临床应用之一是所谓的并行成像方法，即在同步信号处理中使用多个接收线圈来加快成像速度。在不严重影响图像质量的情况下将成像时间减少4倍或更多的能力对于患者舒适度和图像保真度非常重要。例如，减少运动中人体解剖的模糊，如心脏和肺，以及患者必须屏息的某些扫描程序所需的时间。为了充分利用高度并行的成像和伴随而来的疾病诊断的增强，例如癌症的检测，需要大量的RF线圈。虽然目前正在研究的一些系统中已经组合了多达128个接收器-通道线圈，但大多数商用RF线圈的通道数不超过8个。在建造这些复杂的射频电路时，最大的挑战可能是要集成到每个线圈中的前置放大器的大小。现有的商用前置放大器没有小到足以容纳所设想的大量通道。磁共振成像前置放大器与其他技术领域的不同之处在于，需要低输入阻抗(5欧姆或以下)、非磁性材料(以减少图像失真)、极低的噪声系数以及在-300 MHz频率范围内的稳健性。未来仪器的使命是精确开发多通道射频系统所需的产品，他们及其在凯斯西部储备大学的合作伙伴的核心能力处于完美的地位：1)设计和优化电路、印刷电路板，以及采购元件和外部原型公司的选择；2)使用网络分析仪、频谱分析仪和专门的测试装置测试完整的质量和安全因素，包括噪声系数、稳定性、低输入阻抗和线性度测试。这项评估的广泛标准已在前期工作中勾勒出来，项目目标是确定一组200个试生产前置放大器的性能水平，并决定是继续进行商业化进程，还是重新考虑设备设计阶段，以解决任何剩余的性能问题。我们的长期目标是成为MRI硬件行业新型高质量、低噪声微型前置放大器的主要供应商。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Miniature Low-Noise High-Quality MRI Preamplifiers Abstract As a start-up high-RF-technology company with an outstanding core of technical personnel, Future Instruments LLC has the mission to be the first industrial group to design, prototype, test, and manufacture new "miniature" preamplifiers in RoHS compliance for the medical systems industry in MRI. One of the fastest growing clinical applications in this powerful medical imaging modality is the so-called parallel imaging method where multiple receive coils are used in simultaneous signal processing to speed up imaging. The ability to reduce imaging time by a factor of 4 or more without a serious compromise of image quality is very important for patient comfort and picture fidelity. Examples are the reduction of blurring for human anatomies in motion, such as the heart and lung, and the time required for certain scanning procedures where the patients must hold their breath. To take full advantage of highly parallel imaging and the concomitant enhancement of disease diagnostics such as detection of cancer, large numbers of RF coils are required. While as many as 128 receiver-channel coils have been combined in some systems presently under study, most commercial RF coils have no more than 8 channels. Perhaps the biggest challenge in building these complex RF circuits is the size of the preamplifiers to be integrated in each coil. There is no existing commercial preamplifier small enough for the large numbers of channels envisioned. Preamplifiers in MRI are different from other technical areas in the need for low-input impedance (5 Ohms or less), nonmagnetic materials (to reduce image distortion), extremely low-noise figures, and robustness in the 64-300 MHz frequency range. In Future Instruments' mission to develop precisely what is needed for the many-channel RF system, their core competency and that of their collaborators at Case Western Reserve University is perfectly positioned 1) to design and optimize the circuit, printed circuit board, and selection of sourcing components and external prototyping firms, 2) to test a complete list of quality and safety factors including noise figure, stability, low-input impedance and linearity tests using network analyzers, spectrum analyzers and specialized test setups. The extensive criteria for this evaluation have been delineated in preliminary work, and the project target is to determine the performance level of a set of 200 preproduction preamplifiers and reach a decision of whether to go forward with the commercialization process or to revisit the device design stage to address any remaining performance problems. The long-term goal is to become a main supplier of new high-quality low-noise miniature preamplifiers for the MRI hardware industry.