Low-field electromagnet for a high-resolution MRI system

TL;DR

This paper details the design and experimental validation of a 1 Tesla electromagnet optimized for high-resolution MRI, achieving high field homogeneity and effective thermal and mechanical integration.

Contribution

It introduces a novel electromagnet design for MRI that combines high field homogeneity with practical thermal and mechanical solutions.

Findings

Field inhomogeneity below 100 ppm over 20 mm diameter FoV

Magnet performance matches numerical simulations

Effective thermal management and mechanical design implemented

Abstract

This paper presents the design and experimental characterization of a 1 T electromagnet tailored to meet the demands of a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system conceived for spatial resolutions at the level of tens of microns. For high image quality, MRI requires an homogeneous magnetic field over the Field of View (FoV) where the sample is imaged. We measure the relative inhomogeneity of the field generated by our magnet to be well below 100 parts per million over a spherical FoV of 20 mm diameter, while strongly constraining fringe field lines to avoid interference with other devices. The magnet performance closely follows our expectations from numerical simulations in all the experimental tests carried out. Additionally, we present the solutions adopted for thermal management and the design of a mechanical structure to distribute the weight and integrate the platform to move the sample in and out of the magnet.