• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.19-24
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• 1996

The purpose of this paper is to design high-order (or radial) surface gradient coil (SGC), which can provide multi-dimensional spatial selection. Although the spatial Selection with High-Order gradienT (SHOT) can provide a 2-D selection with only one selective RF pulse, the high-order gradient pro- duced by conventional cylindrical-shape coils has not been clinically useful due to the large selection size caused by the limited radial gradient intensity. However, by using the proposed high-order SGCs located near the imaging region, the size of volume selection can be reduced to a clinically useflll size of 1-2 cm in diameter by applying stronger radial gradient field with much less gradient driving power. So far radial SGCs have been designed by using the field component method and may cause distortion in the selection shapes. In this paper, by using the target field approach for the coil design, selected volumes became almost circular. A 40 cm-by-40 cm $z^2$_surface gradient coil has been designed and implemented by using the target field approach. Phantom and volunteer studies have been performed Experimental results using spatially localized MRI show good agreement to the theoretically predicted behavior.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1994 no.05
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• pp.85-87
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• 1994

This paper proposes a new inductance minimization scheme for a gradient system of arbitrarily selected shape. Although it is important to minimize the gradient coil inductance to reduce the current switching time, such minimization has been possible only for cylindrical or parallel biplanar coils. By using small current loops on arbitrarily selected surface as optimization elements, the inductance of the whole circuit can be minimized using the loop's self- and mutual-inductances. Wire positions can be easily derived from the loop current distribution. Preliminary studies for the design of x-directional surface gradient coil show the utility of tile proposed gradient coil design scheme.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics S
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• v.34S no.1
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• pp.72-79
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• 1997

Most open magnetic resonance imaging systems have used the planar gradient coils whose inductances were minimized through the magnetic energy minimization procedure in the spatial frequency domain. Though the planar gradient coils have smaller inductance than conventional gradient coils, the planar gradient coils often suffer from their poor magnetic field linearity. Scaling the spatial frequencies of the current density function designed by the magnetic energy minimization, magnetic field linearity of the planar gradient coils can be greatly improved with small sacrifice of gradient coil inductance. We have found that the figure of merit of the planar gradient coils, defined by the gradient strength divided by the linearity error and the inductance, can be improved by proposed technique.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1996 no.11
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• pp.165-168
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• 1996

Though the planar gradient coils, designed by the magnetic energy minimization procedure, have smaller inductance than conventional gradient coils, the planar gradient oils often suffer from their poor magnetic field linearity. Scaling the spatial frequencies of the current density function designed by the magnetic energy minimization procedure, magnetic field linearity of the planar gradient coils can be featly improved with small sacrifice of gradient coil inductance.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1996 no.11
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• pp.129-134
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• 1996

1차 년도 G-7 개발 과제로 수행된 자기 공명 진단 장치 (Magnetic Resonance Imaging System)의 개발 내용을 간략히 소개하였다. 성공적인 IT Compact 자기 공명 진단 장치의 완성을 위해 일차적으로 (1)RF (고주파), Gradient(경사 자계), Spectrometer 등의 Hard-ware 관련 MRI 핵심부분, (2) RF, Gradient, Spectrometer, Magnet 등의 각 Sub-system을 연결, 조합, 조정하여 하나의 체계적인 시스템으로 통합하고 운영하는 과정(System Integration), (3)사용자와 시스템을 연결하는 User Interface, Data Base Management, Real time 운영 SW 등과 (4)임상에 적용하여 구체적인 성능과 효용성을 확인하는 기술 등에 대하여 집중 연구하였다. 개발 방법은 (1)지난 16년간 국내에 축적 된 연구 개발 인력들을 최대한 활용하고 (2)연구 개발을 국제화 시켜 필요한 경우 부분별로 개발 인력을 해외에서 보완하고 (3)소수 정예 전문 인력 주의와 요소 기술 또는 중요 부품을 경쟁성 검토 후 필요 시 Out-sourcing 활용으로 최저의 비용으로 개발 기간을 최소화 하는 데 두었다. 개발된 1.0Tesla자기 공명 영상 장치는 미국 물리 학회에서 규격화한 Phantom및 임상 적용을 통하여 서울대 의대 연구 팀과 지속적으로 성능을 평가해 왔다. 개발된 시스템의 해상도는 $256{\times}256$ head 영상에서 1mm 이 하의 해상도를 가짐을 resolution phantom 을 통하여 확인할 수 있었고, $512{\times}512$ 영상에서 는 약 0.5 mm 의 물체를 분리 해냄으로써 외제 시스템들 보다 우수하게 평가 되었다. 차폐 경사코일의 Eddy current영향은2%이내로 촬영 시 영향은 거의 무시할 수 있었다. 또한, 개발된 영상 기법들, 즉 Multislice/Multi Echo, Oblique angle imaging, 64 Echo train을 갖는 고속 촬영 기술들이 자기 공명 장치에 장착되어 임상 적용에 문제가 없도록 하였다. 또한 20mT/m/Amp의 강력한 능동 차폐 경사 자계 코일(Active Shield Gradient Coil)을 기본 사양으로 하고, 수신단을 최대 6개로 확장토록 하여 2차년도의 초고속 촬영 기법(EPI) 및 Phased Array 코일 촬영이 가능토록 하였다. 1차 년도 개발 과제 수행 결과와 향후 개발 과제를 바탕으로 최종 목표인 국제 경쟁력이 있는 자기 공명 진단 장치 즉 기능과 영상의 질은 선진국 제품과 동일하거나 우수하되, 저가격을 구현한 상용화 제품이 완성되어, 첨단 의료기기로서 산업 구조 고도화에 기여하고 수입대체 뿐만 아니 라 수출을 통한 국익 창출과 국가의 기술을 통한 위상 제고에 기여되길 기대한다.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1990 no.11
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• pp.48-51
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• 1990

A new in vivo high resolution imaging method which is performed with a newly developed three channel surface gradient coil (SGC) is described. The surface gradient coil can produce more than an order of magnitude stronger gradient fields with good linearity within a limited imaging region. To increase the signal to noise ratio (SNR), we have developed an RF coil integrated surface gradient coil set. In this paper, the geometrical structures and characteristics of the proposed surface gradient coil are discussed and experimentally obtained high resolution images ($50\;{\mu}m$ to $100\;{\mu}m$) of a water filled phantom and a human volunteer's knee using the new surface RF coil integrated SGC set are presented for the demonstration of the in vivo high resolution imaging capability of the new imaging method.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1993 no.05
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• pp.45-48
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• 1993

High-order field gradients are useful for spatial localization of a volume of interest and dynamic range improvement of signal detection in NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) spectroscopy and imaging. This paper proposes a design method of shielded high-order gradient coils to reduce tile effect of eddy current on tile spectroscopy and imaging results. According to the experimental results, the shielded gradient coils produce less than 2 % eddy current compared to non-shielded coils. Two shielded $z^2$ gradient coils have been designed and constructed for 1.5 T whole-body and 3.0 T animal NMR imaging systems. Experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretically expected behavior and show the utility of the shielded high-order gradient coils.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1993 no.11
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• pp.33-35
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• 1993

A new low-power, high-order optimization scheme to design surface gradient coils (SGC) is proposed for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Although previous SGCs have been designed and constructed just to get strong linear gradients, this paper proposes more systematic ways of SGC design by minimizing electrical power consumption in the gradient coil and by removing unnecessary high-order field distortions in the imaging region. By assuming continuous current flow on the coil surface which may be or may not be planar, power consumption in the coil is minimized. According to the simulation results, the SGC designed by using the proposed scheme seems to produce much more uniform linear gradient field using less electrical power compared to the previously proposed SGCs.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1994 no.12
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• pp.43-46
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• 1994

A new spatial localization technique using high-order surface gradient coil (SGC) is proposed. Although the Spatial Selection with High-Order gradient (SHOT) can provide a 2-D selection with only one selective RF pulse, the high-order gradient produced by cylindrical-shape coils has not been clinically useful for clinical systems due to the large minimum selection size caused by the limited radial gradient intensity. However, by using the proposed high-order SGCs located near the imaging region, the size of volume selection can be reduced to a clinically useful 1-4 cm in diameter by applying stronger radial gradient with much less gradient driving power. A 40 cm-by-40 cm $r^{2}$ SGC has been designed and constructed, and phantom and volunteer studies have been performed. Experimental results using spatially localized MRI show good agreement to the theoretically predicted behavior.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1997 no.05
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• pp.108-110
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• 1997

In MRI, gradient coils are needed for spatial selection and position coding to obtain the position information of the NMR signal. In this paper, a new design scheme for actively-shielded x, y-gradient coils, namely, a minimum-power and/or minimum-inductance design scheme using current-loop elements, has been proposed. Its utility in designing MRI gradient coils has been shown by using simulation. An actively-shielded x-gradient coil has been designed as an example and the results are presented. The design scheme seems to be useful for actively-shielded transverse gradient coils, even of non-cylindrical or of arbitrarily -selected shapes.