WEEKEND EDUCATIONAL COURSE
MR Engineering

Organizers: Mark Griswold, Ph.D.; Brian Rutt, Ph.D.
Skill Level: Basic - Advanced

Saturday, 3 May 2008 - Sunday, 4 May 2008

Overview:

This two-day course will provide an in-depth, practical description of fundamental concepts of MR engineering, covering the physics and engineering challenges associated with MRI hardware design for both current and future MRI.

The first day will cover primarily magnets, gradients, and shims, while the second day will cover mostly RF related topics.  Methods to characterize the system at all levels wukk also be covered, as well as compliance regulations in MR engineering related areas (e.g. ISO, FDA, CE).

Educational Objectives:

Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:

  • Recognize all of the basic hardware components of an MRI scanner and understand how they are related;
  • Describe the basic methods for magnet, gradient and shim design;
  • Identify common magnet, gradient and shim imperfections;
  • Describe the basic types of RF coils and how they are constructed;
  • Describe the basic methods one can use to model an RF coil and its effects in the human body, such as heating; and
  • List and describe the basic compliance and regulatory bodies that deal with MR hardware.

    Audience Description:

    This course is designed for basic scientists, engineers or physicians (MS, Ph.D., and/or M.D., doctoral candidates) with knowledge of basic MR physics and engineering.  Scientists or engineers developing or using state-of-the-art MRI/MRS hardware will find it useful.
         
    Saturday    
      Systems  
    8:30 MR Scanners: A System Perspective Steven M. Conolly, Ph.D.
         
      Magnets  
    9:00 Magnets: Design, Modeling Johan A. Overweg, Ph.D.
    9:30 Magnets: Construction, Operation Adrian Thomas
    10:00 Magnets: Ultra-High-Field Magnets Rory Warner
    10:30 Break  
    10:30 - 10:45 Meet the Teachers  
         
      Shimming  
    11:00 Shimming: Principles, Design of Active and Passive Shims Richard W. Bowtell, Ph.D.
    11:30 Shimming: Dynamic Shimming Stuart Clare, Ph.D.
    12:00 Break  
    12:00 - 12:15 Meet the Teachers  
         
      Gradients  
    13:30 Gradients: Design and Limitations Blaine A. Chronik, Ph.D.
    14:00 Gradients: Amplifiers, Eddy Currents, Eddy Current Compensation Franz Schmitt, Ph.D.
    14:30 Break  
    14:30 - 14:45 Meet the Teachers  
         
      RF Basics and Receive Arrays  
    15:00 RF: Modeling Graeme C. McKinnon, Ph.D.
    15:30 RF: Engineering Principles George R. Duensing, Ph.D.
    16:00 RF: Volume Coils Nicola F. deZanche, Ph.D.
    16:30 RF: Strategies of RF Decoupling and Switching Christopher J. Hardy, Ph.D.
    17:00 RF: Receive Arrays Arne Reykowski, Ph.D.
    17:30 Adjournment  
    17:30 - 17:45 Meet the Teachers  
         
         
    Sunday    
      RF Transmit Arrays and Practical Issues  
    9:00 RF: Transmit Arrays Gregor Adriany, Ph.D.
    9:30 RF: Choosing Components and Materials Alexander Weisser, Ph.D.
    10:00 RF: Characterization on the Bench Titus Emanuel Lanz, Dipl. Phys.
    10:30 Break  
    10:30 - 10:45 Meet the Teachers  
         
      Experimental and Specialty Coils  
    11:00 RF: Experimental Coils: Animal, Micro, Multi-tune Andrew G Webb, Ph.D.
    11:30 RF: Preamps: Practical Issues, Optimization for Low-Field and Arrays Grieg C. Scott, Ph.D.
    12:00 Break  
         
      Quality Control  
    13:30 System Characterization Oliver Heid, M.D.
    14:00 Compliance (ISO…) Hiroyuki Fujita, Ph.D.
    14:30 Wrap-up Lecture: What's Hot and Why Mark Griswold, Ph.D.
        Brian Rutt, Ph.D.
    15:00 Adjournment  
    15:00 - 15:15 Meet the Teachers