title: Oval gradient coils for an open magnetic resonance imaging system with a vertical magnetic field.
abstract: Existing open magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems use biplanar gradient coils for the spatial encoding of signals. We propose using novel oval gradient coils for an open vertical-field MRI. We designed oval gradients for a 0.3T open MRI system and showed that such a system could outperform a traditional biplanar gradient system while maintaining adequate gradient homogeneity and subject accessibility. Such oval gradient coils would exhibit high efficiency, low inductance and resistance, and high switching capability. Although the designed oval Y and Z coils showed more heat dissipation and less cooling capability than biplanar coils with the same gap, they showed an efficient heat-dissipation path to the surrounding air, which would alleviate the heat problem. The performance of the designed oval-coil system was demonstrated experimentally by imaging a human hand.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Koki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuzawa
authors.affiliation: Applied Energy Systems Research Department Center for Technology Innovation, Hitachi, Ltd., Hitachi, Japan.
authors.forename: Mitsushi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Katsumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kose
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573, Japan. Electronic address: terada@bk.tsukuba.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Terada
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D004867:Equipment Design; D006225:Hand / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation*
keywords: Open MRI; Oval gradient coil; Truncated singular value decomposition; Vertical-field MRI