ISMRM22 - Build Your Own Open-Source Scanner

Joint Annual Meeting ISMRM-ESMRMB & ISMRT 31st Annual Meeting • 07-12 May 2022 • London, UK

Build Your Own Open-Source Scanner

Onsite Tutorial

ORGANIZERS: William Grissom, Adrienne Campbell-Washburn

Sunday, 08 May 2022

ICC Capital Hall 1

12:30 - 16:30

Moderators:
Magnet, Shims & Gradients: Johnes Obungoloch
RF Coils & System Amplifiers: Megan Poorman
Putting It All Together: Lukas Winter

Skill Level: Basic to Advanced

Session Number: ET-08

Session Number: ET-08

Overview
In recent years, a large number of open-source software and hardware tools have become available that enable the do-it-yourself construction of low-field MRI scanners. This tutorial will cover the end-to-end implementation of a tabletop MRI scanner including the magnet, gradients, amplifiers, and spectrometer using open-source tools.

Target Audience
Engineers and investigators interested in building their own scanner or parts of a scanner, and students interested in learning more about the fundamental hardware components of an MR scanner.

Educational Objectives
As a result of attending this course, participants should be able to:
- Describe the major components required to build a functioning tabletop MRI scanner;
- Explain the ecosystem of open-source MR scanner component resources; and
- Recall a basic recipe of how to build a functioning tabletop MRI scanner.

	Magnet, Shims & Gradients
12:30		The Magnet & Shims View the Presentation Thomas O'Reilly
12:55		The Gradient Coils View the Presentation Sebastian Littin
	RF Coils & System Amplifiers
13:20		The RF Coil View the Presentation Matthew Wilcox
13:45		The RF & Gradient Amplifiers View the Presentation Mike Twieg Most low-field MRI projects make use of off-the-shelf gradient and RF power amplifiers, but such options are often poor fits for low-field applications, especially if cost is a concern. Thus there is increasing interest in designs aimed towards low-field systems. This talk covers existing designs and projects, and discusses some of the tradeoffs between them. A new open source RFPA design, The Easy RFPA, is also presented.
14:10		Break & Meet the Teachers
	The Spectrometer, Pulse Programming & Phantom
14:35		OCRA Tabletop MRI System View the Presentation Marcus Prier MRI machines are difficult to access for research and training purposes. The open-source Tabletop MRI developed by the Otto-von-Guericke University employees and students based on the idea of the Martinos Tabletop MRI and the OCRA project is inexpensive to purchase and allows teaching on state of the art MRI hard- and software. This benchtop device allows for the measurement of test-tube-sized samples with the physics of a clinical MRI machine.
15:00		The Phantom View the Presentation Kalina Jordanova Evaluating the performance of MRI systems validates MR measurements. A phantom is an object used to ensure that MR systems and methods operate correctly. Phantom design requires identifying target measurements to be evaluated, and designing an object that can validate those measurements. Tradeoffs are made in phantom design to target specific properties or to accommodate different hardware configurations. Thus, physical properties of phantoms can be vastly different depending on the system and application being evaluated. This talk discusses methods to design home-built phantoms that tackle many challenges in phantom design and highlights the most important considerations for open-source designs.
	Putting It All Together
15:25		Demo: Putting It All Together View the Presentation Kristen Zarcone
15:50		Live demos: Systems and Components