CN106842086B

CN106842086B - Radio frequency coil assembly for magnetic resonance imaging

Info

Publication number: CN106842086B
Application number: CN201510894339.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 侯祥明
Original assignee: Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare Co Ltd
Priority date: 2015-12-07
Filing date: 2015-12-07
Publication date: 2020-06-26
Anticipated expiration: 2035-12-07
Also published as: CN106842086A

Abstract

The invention discloses a radio frequency coil assembly for magnetic resonance imaging, which comprises an upper shell and a lower shell, wherein a cavity is formed between the upper shell and the lower shell, the cavity is provided with an opening part, a plurality of coil units are uniformly distributed on the upper shell and the lower shell, the coil units are made of metal materials, the upper shell and the lower shell are made of insulating materials, the radio frequency coil assembly also comprises a rotating mechanism, the rotating mechanism and the opening part of the cavity are oppositely arranged in the front-back direction, the upper shell and the lower shell are connected together through the rotating mechanism, and the upper shell can turn over relative to the lower shell; the opening and closing of the upper shell of the upper half part of the coil can be operated by a single hand through the rotating mechanism; the upper half part of the coil does not need to be moved away, so that the workflow is reduced, and the time is saved.

Description

Radio frequency coil assembly for magnetic resonance imaging

[ technical field ] A method for producing a semiconductor device

The present invention relates to the magnetic resonance imaging arts, and in particular, to a radio frequency coil assembly for magnetic resonance imaging.

[ background of the invention ]

Magnetic Resonance, also known as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), spin Imaging (spinimaging), and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NMRI), are further important advances in medical Imaging following CT. Since the 80 s of application, it has developed at an extremely rapid rate. The basic principle is that the human body is placed in a special magnetic field, and when the measured object is placed in the magnetic field, the hydrogen atoms in the human body can be polarized. Radio frequency pulses are used to excite hydrogen nuclei in the human body, causing the hydrogen nuclei to resonate and absorb energy. After the radio frequency pulse is stopped, the hydrogen atomic nucleus sends out radio signals according to specific frequency, releases absorbed energy, is recorded by a receiver outside the body, and is processed by an electronic computer to obtain an image.

MRI provides not only a greater amount of information than many other imaging procedures in medical imaging, but also differs from existing imaging procedures, and thus has great potential advantages for the diagnosis of disease. Because it can directly make the cross section, sagittal plane, coronal plane and various inclined plane body layer images; and has no ionizing radiation and no adverse effect on the body, and thus is increasingly used in the medical field.

The radio frequency coil is an important component of a magnetic resonance imaging system and is used for generating radio frequency pulses to excite a scanned object and generate magnetic resonance signals; then, the radio frequency coil receives the magnetic resonance signal, and 2D or 3D images of the scanned object are obtained through subsequent data processing. In order to better acquire the magnetic resonance signal of the scanned part and improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the image, the local coil is widely applied. Local coils are often designed for a particular scanned area, such as for the ankle, the wrist, the spine, the head, etc.

The existing local coil for the head is designed into two halves which can be opened and closed up and down. When the coil is used, the upper half part needs to be opened, the electrical connection of the upper half part and the lower half part of the coil needs to be disconnected, two hands hold bayonet positions at two sides, the upper half part is moved away, then the head of a person to be scanned is placed at the lower half part of the coil, and then the upper half part is closed at the lower half part. The workflow of the existing local coil for the head is complex and needs multi-step operation; the operation is carried out by two hands, and the operation by one hand cannot be used; the coil needs a guiding and positioning structure when the upper half part and the lower half part are combined; when the upper half part and the lower half part of the hand-held coil are combined, if the coil falls due to negligence, a patient in place is easily injured, and safety risk exists.

[ summary of the invention ]

The invention aims to provide a radio frequency coil assembly which can be conveniently used.

The technical scheme adopted by the invention for solving the technical problems is as follows: the utility model provides a radio frequency coil subassembly for magnetic resonance imaging, its includes casing, lower casing, and goes up the casing, form the cavity down between the casing, the cavity has the opening, and goes up casing, casing equipartition down and has put several coil unit, the coil unit is made with metal material, go up, lower casing is made with insulating material, the radio frequency coil subassembly still includes slewing mechanism, just slewing mechanism sets up in the front and back direction with the opening of cavity relatively, go up casing, lower casing and link together through slewing mechanism, and go up the casing and can overturn for lower casing.

Preferably, the rotating structure includes a rotating member mounted to the lower housing, and the rotating member is rotatable with respect to the lower housing.

Preferably, the rotating element includes a main body and a rotating shaft extending laterally from the main body.

Preferably, the lower housing is provided with a receiving portion in which the rotating member is mounted.

Preferably, the accommodating part is provided with a supporting part, a notch is arranged on the supporting part, and the rotating shaft part is arranged in the notch.

Preferably, still include the fixed part, the fixed part is installed in the holding portion to with pivot portion spacing in the notch.

Preferably, the rotating mechanism further comprises a deflecting element mounted on the rotating shaft for providing a deflecting force to the rotating element; the deflection element is a torsion spring, and two free tail ends of the torsion spring respectively abut against the lower base shell and the main body part of the rotating mechanism.

Preferably, the main body part of the rotating element is provided with a return guide sleeve, a return guide pillar is arranged in the return guide sleeve, and a return spring is arranged between the return guide pillar and the main body part.

Preferably, the upper shell is connected with the return guide pillar.

Preferably, still including setting up in the buckle of last casing and setting up in the buckle slot of casing down.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following beneficial effects: the opening and closing of the upper shell of the upper half part of the coil can be operated by a single hand through the rotating mechanism; the upper half part of the coil does not need to be moved away, so that the workflow is reduced, and the time is saved; the coil is more convenient and simple to open and close up and down; connectors at the upper part and the lower part of the coil are omitted, so that the cost is saved, and meanwhile, the safety of an electric appliance is improved; the risk of falling off of the upper half part of the coil in the handheld process is reduced, and the reliability of the coil is improved; meanwhile, the risk that the patient is injured by slipping when the upper half coil is used is avoided.

[ description of the drawings ]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a closed state of upper and lower housings of a radio frequency coil assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the RF coil assembly with the upper and lower housings open;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the upper and lower housings of the RF coil assembly open with the rotation mechanism shown;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the radio frequency coil assembly;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the rotating mechanism;

FIG. 6 is a view from another angle of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing the relationship between the rotating structure and the upper and lower housings;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the rotating mechanism assembled to the lower housing;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the RF coil assembly of FIG. 1 with the upper housing removed;

FIG. 10 is a view of the positional relationship of the cables within the rectangular frame of FIG. 9 and the wire outlet holes of the upper and lower housings;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of the pushing force F exerted on the upper and lower housings in the closed state;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of the upper housing being flipped over relative to the lower housing by the deflecting element of the rotating mechanism;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a schematic view of the positional relationship of the upper and lower housings with the cushioning element in equilibrium with the interaction of the deflecting element;

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C of FIG. 15;

FIGS. 17-20 are schematic views of the closing of the upper housing with the lower housing under the urging force F';

figure 21 is a schematic diagram of the spatial arrangement of the coil units of the upper half of the radio frequency coil assembly for magnetic resonance imaging in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

figure 22 is a schematic diagram of the spatial arrangement of the coil elements in the lower half of the radio frequency coil assembly;

figure 23 is a front view of the coil unit of the upper half of the radio frequency coil assembly;

figure 24 is a front view of the coil unit of the lower half of the radio frequency coil assembly;

fig. 25 is a schematic diagram of decoupling between coil units in the middle of a head coil.

[ detailed description ] embodiments

The invention is further described below with reference to the figures and examples.

As shown in fig. 1 to 10, a radio frequency coil assembly for magnetic resonance imaging according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a housing and a plurality of coil units disposed on the housing for transmitting or receiving radio frequency signals, and specifically, the housing includes an upper housing 101 and a lower housing 102, a cavity 104 is formed between the upper housing 101 and the lower housing 102, the cavity has an opening 105, and the upper housing and the lower housing are respectively provided with the plurality of coil units, the coil units are made of a metal material, the upper housing and the lower housing are made of an insulating material, the radio frequency coil assembly further includes a rotating mechanism 30, the rotating mechanism 30 and the opening 105 of the cavity are disposed opposite to each other in a front-rear direction, the upper housing and the lower housing are connected together by the rotating mechanism, and the upper housing can be turned over with respect to the lower housing. The radio frequency coil assembly in this embodiment is a radio frequency coil assembly for head magnetic resonance scanning, but the technical solution in the present invention can also be applied to other radio frequency coil assemblies that can be designed into an open-close structure, such as a limb joint radio frequency coil assembly.

In order to facilitate the positioning of the coil unit and other corresponding electronic components on the housing, the upper and lower housings are further optimized in design, wherein the lower housing 102 includes a lower base casing 1021 and a lower cover 1022; a plurality of coil units are arranged on the lower base shell 1022, are arranged between the lower base shell 1021 and the lower cover 1022, and are fixed on the structural surface of the lower base shell 1021 along the shape; the upper housing 101 is also designed in a similar manner as an upper base housing 1011 and an upper cover 1012, and a number of coil units are arranged on the upper base housing 1011. Specifically, twenty-four coil units (1-24) are arranged in the upper and lower base cases in the present embodiment, but the number of the coil units is not limited to this, and may be thirty-two, sixty-four, or the like. The coil unit may be constructed in a certain shape by a copper foil, a copper wire, a flexible circuit board, etc. However, it should be particularly noted that the housing of the present invention is not limited to the structure of the embodiment, and in other embodiments, the upper base shell 1011 and the upper cover 1012 may be a one-piece structure, and the lower base shell 1021 and the lower cover 1022 may also be a one-piece structure, and constitute a lower housing which is relatively independent in structure.

The rotating mechanism 30 in the embodiment of the present invention is pivotally connected to the lower housing 102 and movably connected to the upper housing 101, so that the upper and

lower housings

101 and 102 can be reliably assembled together. The rotating structure 30 includes a pair of rotating members 301 mounted on the rear side of the lower housing 102, and the rotating members 301 can rotate relative to the lower housing 102. The rotating element 301 includes a main body 302 and a pair of rotating shafts 303 extending laterally from the main body. Specifically, the rotating mechanism 30 is symmetrically assembled to the left and right positions on the rear side of the lower case 102.

Further, a receiving portion 1023 is further provided on the lower base shell 1021 of the lower housing 102, and the rotating element 301 is mounted in the receiving portion 1023. The receiving portion 1023 is provided with a support 1024 provided with a recess 1025, the shaft 303 is placed in the recess 1025, and the rotating element 301 is suspended from two oppositely arranged supports 1024. Further, a fixing element 304 for assembling the rotating element 301 to the lower base shell 102 is further included, and the fixing element 304 is installed in the accommodating portion and limits the rotating shaft portion in the recess. The fixing element 304 includes a connecting portion 3041 and a holding portion 3043, the holding portion 3043 is located beside the bottom of the connecting portion 3041, the connecting portion 3041 is provided with a through hole 3042, the connecting portion 3041 and the positioning portion 1029 in the bottom housing portion 1023 can be combined together by a screw (not shown) penetrating through the connecting portion 3041, and the holding portion 3043 is provided with an arc-shaped groove 3044 capable of cooperating with the rotating shaft 303 to prevent the rotating shaft 303 from separating from the supporting member 1024.

Further, the turning mechanism 30 is provided with a deflecting element 305 for assisting the turning of the upper housing relative to the lower housing. Preferably, the deflecting member 305 is a torsion spring, which is installed on the rotating shaft 303, and one torsion spring or two torsion springs opposite to each other in the left and right direction may be installed on the rotating member 301 according to specific requirements. The two free ends of the torsion spring abut against the lower base shell and the main body portion 302 of the rotation mechanism 30, respectively.

Further, the main body portion 302 of the rotating element 301 is provided with a return guide 306 extending in the front-rear direction, the return guide having a front opening 3061 and an upper opening 3062. A return guide pillar 307 is arranged in the return guide sleeve 306, a return spring 308 is arranged in the return guide sleeve 306, and the return spring 308 is arranged behind the return guide pillar 307 and elastically abuts against the return guide pillar 307. The upper casing 101 is connected to the return guide column 307, and specifically, a fixing hole 3071 may be provided at an upper portion of the return guide column 307, and the upper casing 101 and the return guide column 307 are combined together by a screw (not shown) assembled therewith, so that, when a backward pushing force is applied to the upper casing, the upper casing 101 may push the return guide column 307 to move backward in the return guide sleeve 306 and compress the return spring 308, and when the external force is removed, the return spring 308 may push the return guide column 307 to move forward, thereby driving the upper casing 101 to move forward.

Further, the main body 302 is provided with a convex column 309, the convex column 309 is located below the return guide sleeve 306, and the front end of the convex column 309 is located behind the front end of the return guide sleeve 306. Further, a buffer guide sleeve 1026 extending in the up-down direction is disposed on the lower base casing 1021 of the lower base casing 102, the buffer spring 310 and the buffer element 311 are disposed in the buffer guide sleeve 1026, the buffer element 311 includes an outer wall 3111 and a buffer guide post 3113 disposed in the outer wall 3111, the buffer spring 310 is assembled to the buffer guide post 3113, an elastic arm 3112 is disposed on the outer wall 3111, the buffer element 311 is disposed in the buffer guide sleeve 1025, a barb portion at the upper end of the elastic arm 3112 hooks the upper edge of the buffer guide sleeve 1025, the buffer spring 310 abuts against the lower base casing 1021, and the buffer element 311 can move up and down relative to the buffer guide sleeve 1026.

The upper shell is provided with a first wire outlet hole 1017, the lower shell is provided with a second wire outlet hole 1027, and the cable 200 is electrically connected with the coil unit on the upper shell, passes through the first wire outlet hole 1017, enters the second wire outlet hole 1027, and is connected with the connector 1028 on the front lower side of the lower shell 102. Preferably, the cross-sectional shape of the first wire outlet 1017 is designed to be racetrack-shaped, the cross-sectional shape of the second wire outlet 1027 is designed to be circular, the second wire outlet 1027 is aligned with the first wire outlet 1017 in the left-right direction, the size (aperture) of the second wire outlet 1027 is smaller than the size (aperture) of the first wire outlet 1017, and the second wire outlet is located within the effective range of the first wire outlet during the rotation of the upper housing relative to the lower housing, so as to prevent the cable 200 from being twisted or worn. Further, a buckle 1010 is disposed at a front edge of the upper housing 101, and a buckle slot 1020 is disposed at a front edge of the lower housing 102.

The opening and closing operation of the radio frequency coil assembly in the embodiment of the present invention is briefly described as follows:

referring to fig. 11-12, when the coil assembly needs to be opened, an external force F is applied in the direction of the arrow in the figure (front-back direction) to push the upper half of the coil to overcome the reverse acting force of the return spring 308, referring to fig. 13-14, when the latch 1010 of the upper half of the coil assembly is disengaged from the latch slot 1020 of the lower half, the upper half of the coil assembly starts to rotate reversely under the force of the deflecting element 305 disposed on the rotating shaft of the rotating mechanism 30; referring to fig. 15-16, when the upper half of the coil assembly rotates reversely to a certain angle, the boss 309 of the rotating mechanism presses the buffer element 311, and the upper half of the coil assembly does not rotate reversely after the reverse force applied to the upper half of the coil assembly is balanced with the force of the buffer element.

The reversal angle of the upper half part of the coil assembly can reach 180 degrees or more; because the requirement is basically met when the angle is more than 75 degrees in the use process, the braking angle (the reverse angle) can be designed to be 90-120 degrees, so that the problem that the head of a patient touches the upper half part of the coil when the patient lies down to cause discomfort or the head weight is carelessly applied to the upper half part of the coil to cause the damage of the coil can be avoided; meanwhile, when the coil returns, force is conveniently applied by a user.

Referring to fig. 17-20, when the coil assembly needs to be closed, the upper half portion of the coil assembly can be rotated reversely along the rotating shaft of the rotating mechanism under the action of an external force F ', when the upper half portion of the coil assembly is engaged with the lower half portion of the coil assembly, the buckle slot pushes the buckle towards the direction of the hollow arrow, when the buckle continues to rotate along with the upper half portion of the coil under the pressing of the external force F', the buckle reaches the buckle slot engaging position, the buckle is not blocked, and the buckle moves in the opposite direction under the action of the return spring to enter the buckle slot engaging position, so that the locking is realized.

Referring to fig. 21-25, the coil units in the embodiment of the invention are schematically distributed on the coil housing.

A coil unit for a radio frequency coil for magnetic resonance imaging, comprising: the first coil unit group, the second coil unit group and the third coil unit group, the first coil unit group, the second coil unit group and the third coil unit group are sequentially arranged along the up-down direction (the front-back direction when the radio frequency coil assembly is installed on a scanning bed along the front-back direction), the coil units of the first coil unit group are continuously distributed at the top, the coil units of the second coil unit group or/and the third coil unit group are continuously distributed along the circumferential direction in the back half part (the lower half part when the radio frequency coil assembly is installed on the scanning bed along the front-back direction), and the coil units of the second coil unit group or/and the third coil unit group are discontinuously distributed along the circumferential direction in the front half part (the upper half part when the radio frequency coil assembly is installed on the scanning bed along the front-. The coil units may be configured by copper sheet or copper wire according to certain shapes, and each coil unit is a ring-shaped closed loop for receiving magnetic resonance signals.

The first coil unit group comprises 8 coil units which are respectively numbered as 1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 12, 13 and 14; the second coil unit group comprises 10 coil units which are respectively numbered as 5, 6, 7, 8 and 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20; the third coil unit group comprises 6 coil units, numbered 9, 10 and 21, 22, 23, 24, respectively.

The

coil units

1, 2, 3, 4 and 11, 12, 13, 14 of the first coil unit group are centered on the top and radially arranged downward and outward. The coil units of the first coil unit group are formed substantially in a hemispherical shape. The coil units of the first coil unit group are basically consistent in shape and are continuously distributed on the top. The decoupling manner between the coil units in the first coil unit group is capacitive decoupling, and according to the spatial distribution of the coil units and the positional relationship of the top of the head, two coil units of the coil units in the first coil unit group, which are spaced by one coil unit each other, are decoupled by capacitance (see fig. 5). For example, each every other cell of

cells

1, 2, 3, 4 and

cells

11, 12, 13, 14 is decoupled by a capacitor. Decoupling between 1 and 12, 4 and 13, 14 and 3, 2 and 11 can also be achieved in this way if the mechanical housing of the head coil is not opened or closed up or down.

The 10

coil units

5, 6, 7, 8 and 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 of the second coil unit group are arranged in the circumferential direction (i.e., the circumferential direction of a columnar surface having a straight line passing substantially through the center of the top portion as an axis). In the front-rear direction, the second coil element group may be divided into a front half portion including the

coil elements

5, 6, 7, 8 and a rear half portion including the

coil elements

15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. The

coil units

15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 in the rear half are circumferentially and continuously distributed, and the

coil units

5, 6, 7, 8 in the front half are circumferentially and discontinuously distributed, wherein the

coil units

6, 7 are approximately trapezoidal, and the

other coil units

5, 8, 15-20 are approximately rectangular. The

coil units

6, 7 are located at the positions of the two eyes, which can ensure that the scanned person has a good visual field. In the region between the

coil units

6, 7, no effective coil part is arranged, so that the coil units are in a non-continuous distribution state, and the coil units are distributed in a manner of reserving a space for the nose, thereby preventing the nose of a patient from being pressed.

The 6

coil units

9, 10 and 21, 22, 23, 24 of the third coil unit group are arranged in the circumferential direction (i.e., the circumferential direction of a cylindrical surface having a straight line passing substantially through the center of the top portion as an axis). In the front-rear direction, the third coil unit group may be divided into a front half portion including the

coil units

9, 10 and a rear half portion including the

coil units

21, 22, 23, 24. The

coil units

21, 22, 23, 24 of the rear half are continuously distributed along the circumferential direction, the

coil units

9, 10 of the front half are discontinuously distributed along the circumferential direction, specifically, the

coil units

9, 10 are approximately trapezoidal, and the other coil units 21-24 are approximately rectangular. The position of the

coil unit

9, 10 is the position of the mouth. In the region between the

coil units

9, 10, no active coil portions are arranged, so that the coil units are in a non-continuously distributed state here.

The invention has the following advantages: the opening and closing of the upper shell of the upper half part of the coil can be realized by one hand; the upper half part of the coil does not need to be moved away, so that the workflow is reduced, and the time is saved; the coil is more convenient and simple to open and close up and down; connectors at the upper part and the lower part of the coil are omitted, so that the cost is saved, and meanwhile, the safety of an electric appliance is improved; the risk of falling off of the upper half part of the coil in the handheld process is reduced, and the reliability of the coil is improved; meanwhile, the risk that the patient is injured by slipping when the upper half coil is used is avoided.

Although the present invention has been described with respect to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. The utility model provides a radio frequency coil subassembly for magnetic resonance imaging, its includes casing, lower casing, and goes up the casing, forms the cavity down between the casing, the cavity has the opening, and goes up casing, casing equipartition down and has put several coil unit, the coil unit is made with metal material, go up casing and casing down and make its characterized in that with insulating material: the radio frequency coil assembly further comprises a rotating mechanism, the rotating mechanism and the opening part of the cavity are oppositely arranged in the front-back direction, the upper shell and the lower shell are connected together through the rotating mechanism, and the upper shell can be turned over relative to the lower shell; the rotating mechanism is pivoted with the lower shell and movably connected with the upper shell, and is provided with a deflection element for assisting the upper shell to turn relative to the lower shell; the rotating structure comprises a rotating element which is arranged on the lower shell and can rotate relative to the lower shell, and the rotating element comprises a main body part and a rotating shaft part which extends from the side direction of the main body part; a return spring is arranged in the rotating element and used for driving the upper shell to move forwards, so that a buckle of the upper shell can enter a buckle slot of the lower shell to realize locking; a lower base shell of the lower shell is provided with a buffer guide sleeve extending along the up-down direction, and a buffer spring and a buffer element are arranged in the buffer guide sleeve; when the upper shell of the coil assembly rotates reversely to a certain angle, the convex column on the main body part of the rotating element presses the buffer element, and after the reverse force applied to the upper shell is balanced with the force of the buffer element, the upper shell does not rotate reversely.

2. The rf coil assembly according to claim 1, wherein the lower case is provided with a receiving portion in which the rotating member is mounted.

3. The radio frequency coil assembly for magnetic resonance imaging as claimed in claim 2, wherein the accommodating portion is provided with a support member on which a recess is provided, and the shaft portion is provided in the recess.

4. The RF coil assembly according to claim 3, further comprising a fixing portion, the fixing portion being disposed in the receiving portion and limiting the shaft portion in the recess.

5. The radio frequency coil assembly for magnetic resonance imaging as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotation mechanism further comprises a deflection element mounted on the rotation shaft for providing a deflection force to the rotation element.

6. The RF coil assembly according to claim 1, wherein the main body of the rotating element has a return guide sleeve, the return guide sleeve has a return guide post disposed therein, and a return spring is disposed between the return guide post and the main body.

7. The radio frequency coil assembly for magnetic resonance imaging as set forth in claim 6, wherein the upper housing is coupled with return guide posts.

8. The rf coil assembly of claim 1, further comprising a latch disposed on the upper housing and a latch slot disposed on the lower housing.