# An Irregular-shaped Ring-Pair Magnet Array with a Monotonic Field Gradient for 2D Head Imaging in Low-field Portable MRI

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel irregular-shaped ring-pair magnet array designed to generate a monotonic magnetic field gradient for enhanced 2D head imaging in low-field portable MRI, improving image clarity and reducing errors.

## Contribution

The paper presents a new magnet array design optimized with a genetic algorithm to produce a monotonic field pattern for portable MRI, a novel approach in low-field imaging systems.

## Key findings

- Achieved a strong magnetic field of 132.98 mT with 151840 ppm homogeneity.
- Generated a monotonic field pattern along the x-direction within the cylindrical FoV.
- Reconstructed images showed higher structural similarity and lower error compared to traditional arrays.

## Abstract

We present a design and the optimization of an irregular-shaped ring-pair magnet array that generates a 1D monotonic field pattern for 2D head imaging in a low-field portable MRI system. The magnet rings are discretized into fan-shaped ring segments with varying outer diameters for the design and optimization. Besides, the inner radii of ring-pairs are tapered from outside in to provide the controlled field inhomogeneity. Genetic algorithm (GA) was used, and a current model for a fan-shaped ring segment was derived to have a fast forward calculation in the optimization. A monotonic field pattern is successfully obtained along the x-direction in a cylindrical field of view (FoV), with a relatively strong magnetic field (132.98 mT) and the homogeneity of 151840 ppm. The proposed array was further evaluated by applying its field as a spatial encoding magnetic field (SEM) for imaging numerically. Due to the field monotonicity, the reconstructed image by applying the fields of the proposed array shows clearer features (a higher structural similarity index) with a reduced error rate compared to that using a sparse dipolar Halbach array. The proposed magnet array is a promising alternative to supply SEM for imaging in a permanent-magnet-based low-field portable MRI system.