KR101797524B1

KR101797524B1 - Connection of coils to an mr device

Info

Publication number: KR101797524B1
Application number: KR1020160017923A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 후버투스 피셔; 카타리나 헤셀스; 카르스텐 잔스; 울프강 크라우스; 토마스 쿤트너; 스테펜 울프; 죠르그 로차드
Original assignee: 지멘스 악티엔게젤샤프트
Priority date: 2015-02-17
Filing date: 2016-02-16
Publication date: 2017-11-15
Also published as: DE102015202795A1; DE102015202795B4; CN105891748A; KR20160101685A; CN105891748B

Abstract

According to the invention, the accessory 3 comprises at least one first electrical accessory port 6 for connection to each matching electrical coil port 10 of the MR coil 5 and at least one first electrical accessory port 6 of the MR device 2, And at least one second electrical accessory port (8) for connection to each matched electrical device port (14), said first accessory port (6) and said second accessory port (8) And each first accessory port 6 is connected to a second accessory port 8 associated by an electrical adaptation 7. The MR system 1 includes MR apparatuses 2 and 20, an accessory 3, an MR coil 5 arranged on the rear side, which is a surface coil having a plurality of coil elements Bij, and an MR coil 5 arranged on the front side of the MR coil 4. [ The present invention may be particularly advantageously applied to magnetic resonance tomography examinations of body parts such as upper body, abdomen, liver, heart, pelvis or prostate.

Description

CONNECTION OF COILS TO AN MR DEVICE < RTI ID = 0.0 >

The present invention relates to an accessory for a magnetic resonance tomography (MR or MRT) device. The invention also includes a patient bed comprising a patient bed having at least one first device port for connecting the MR coil disposed in front and at least one second device port for connecting the MR coil disposed in the rear, And a memory in which one set of coil file parameters for the MR coil disposed in the rear side and one set of coil file parameters for the MR coil disposed in the rear side are stored, Are designed differently. The present invention also relates to an MR apparatus, comprising: a rearwardly arranged MR coil, a surface coil having a plurality of coil elements and to which at least one coil port thereof is connected; a surface coil having a plurality of coil elements; And a coil port is connected to each first device port of the MR device. The present invention also relates to a method of preparing an MR device, in which at least one coil port of a MR coil arranged in front is connected to a respective first device port of the MR device. The present invention may be particularly advantageously applied to magnetic resonance tomography examinations of body parts such as upper body, abdomen, liver, heart, pelvis or prostate.

Typically, MR surface coils that are compliant and that can be flexibly placed or installed on the patient can be used to perform imaging tests using magnetic resonance tomography of body parts, such as, for example, the upper body, abdomen, liver, heart, pelvis or prostate . The goal here is to obtain images with the highest possible image quality with the shortest possible inspection duration. Short test times are particularly advantageous for reducing the effects of artifacts in motion-sensitive examinations.

For the MR examination described above, it is possible to arrange MR surface coils such as local coils both under the patient ("behind") and on the patient '

However, until now, these MR tests have always had to use a combination of two different MR surface coils because there are no MR surface coils available for both the front and back. One problem in this regard is that different motion and / or evaluation parameters (so-called "coil file parameters") at two different positions must be assigned to the MR surface coil to achieve the best possible image quality. Moreover, MR surface coils for front and rear arrangements have coil cables of different lengths or no coil cables. So far, there are two different arrangements for these MR examinations.

On the other hand, the tests use a combination of exactly one rear MR surface coil (so-called "spine coil") and a front 18-channel MR surface coil (so-called "body coil" . However, until now, this combination involves a relatively small number of coil elements in the MR surface coils, resulting in a correspondingly long measuring time. Moreover, this combination only achieves low coverage in the longitudinal or z-direction of the patient.

On the other hand, tests can be performed using a coil set made by Invivo. In this case, one MR surface coil is disposed on the front side and another MR surface coil is disposed on the rear side. However, these two MR surface coils require different material numbers because they have different coil lengths. In addition, these MR surface coils often cause an excessively long measurement time.

U.S. Patent Publication No. 7345485 (Mar. 18, 2008) United States Patent Application Publication No. US2010 / 0271027 (Oct. 28, 2010) German Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. DE102009018608A1 (November 11, 2010)

It is an object of the present invention to at least partly overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.

This object is achieved according to the features of the independent claims. Particularly preferred embodiments can be derived from the dependent claims.

This object is achieved by means of at least one first electric port (hereinafter referred to as a first "accessory port" without limitation of generality) for connection to each matched electric port of the MR coil (hereinafter referred to as "coil port" ) And at least one second electrical port (hereinafter referred to as a second "accessory port" without limitation of generality) for connection to a respective matched electrical port of the MR coil (hereinafter referred to as "device port" Wherein the first accessory port and the second accessory port are not matched to each other and each first accessory port is connected to a second accessory port associated by electrical adaptation or conversion.

This makes it possible for the MR coil to be connected to at least one device port of the MR device which itself is not suitable for the port of this coil. This in particular makes it possible for the same MR coils to be arbitrarily connected to different unmatched device ports of the MR device, in particular enabling the MR coils to be arranged in front or the MR coils to be arranged in the back. This means that the same MR coil with the same material number can be used for both the front array and the rear array, thus reducing the cost of coil production, coil development, production support and service.

The electrical port may include one or more electrical contacts or poles, and may in particular be multi-polar.

The fact that each first accessory port can be electrically connected to a second accessory port associated therewith is advantageous in that the pin configuration of the electrical contacts of the first accessory port is such that the pin arrangement of the electrical contacts of the second accessory port , Or vice versa, or more precisely, having the same functions. Transformation with the same functions can be understood to mean in particular that the function of the MR coil is not limited by the intervention of the accessory or is maintained to the full extent. For example, if the first accessory port and the second accessory port have the same number of contacts, the accessory can convert the one-to-one electrical connection of the contacts of the first accessory port to the contacts of the associated second accessory port have.

The adaptation in the accessory may for example be purely electrical conversion purely by wiring, or it may be an electronic conversion by the intervention of, for example, at least one electronic component.

The accessory may also be referred to as an adapter, converter, or interface, more precisely, between the MR device associated with the MR coil or parts thereof. An accessory can also be called an accessory part.

In one embodiment, the accessory includes at least two first accessory ports and at least two second accessory ports. This enables the MR coils to be connected to a particularly large number of coil elements, since the associated MR signals can be transmitted through more than one port.

In a further embodiment, the at least one first accessory port is a manually pluggable part and the at least one second accessory port is a direct pluggable part. The manually pluggable component may be a plug, a socket, or a combination thereof. The directly pluggable part may be a plug, a socket, or a combination thereof.

In one embodiment, the MR coil is a surface coil with a plurality of coil elements. MR surface coils can be positioned and flexibly positioned on or below the patient. The MR surface coil is particularly embodied in the form of a mat or a cover. The at least one coil element can be used either purely as a receive coil or as a receive coil alone. Alternatively, it may be a combined transmit / receive coil or be used as such.

The MR coil may be disposed on both the front and the back, for example, with respect to the patient.

In a further embodiment, the MR coil includes exactly two coil ports for connecting the coil elements. This makes it possible for the MR coils to have a particularly large number of coil elements and still be connected in a simple manner.

Especially if at least one coil port of the MR coil has a cable or is connected to a cable, it is particularly easy to displace the rearwardly arranged MR coil or rearrange it on the rear side.

In one development, the MR coil includes at least one coil element, at least one coil port for coupling the at least one coil element to the MR device, and at least one memory for storing readable data, The memory is particularly readable via said at least one coil port. This MR coil has the advantage that it is easy to identify and / or retain information about operating parameters. The memory may be an electronic memory, an RFID, an electrical or electronic circuit, or the like.

The readable data may comprise, for example, one or more sets of coil file parameters. Alternatively or additionally, it is possible to read from the MR coil an identification or ID that uniquely identifies the type of coil. The identification information may correspond to, for example, a specific material number or a group of material numbers.

The object is also achieved by providing a magnetoresistive sensor comprising at least one first device port for connecting a first MR coil and at least one second device port for connecting a second MR coil, And a memory in which one set of file parameters and one set of coil parameters for an MR coil disposed behind are stored, wherein the two device ports are designed differently and the MR device Is configured to read the identification information of the MR coil disposed in the front side through the first device port and to read the identification information of the MR coil disposed in the rear side through the second device port, The MR signals originated from the MR coil disposed on the front side are read out from the MR coil disposed on the front side, Wherein the MR device is configured to process MR signals originating from the MR coil disposed at the rear side by a set of coil file parameters selected based on the connection to the first device port of the MR coil, By the set of coil file parameters that are selected based on the identification information read from the MR coil disposed in the MR coil and the (indirect) connection to the second device port of the MR coil disposed behind.

This MR device has the advantage that it can automatically assign the correct set of coil file parameters to the connected MR coil. In addition, the coil file parameters can be simply adapted by, for example, "updating" in the MR device. The MR coils themselves do not need to be changed for this reason.

The MR device may, for example, be a patient bed or a patient bed.

The fact that the MR device is configured to process the MR signals originating from the MR coil by a set of matching coil file parameters that are selected or determined based on the identification information read from the MR coil and the selected device port of the MR coil, For example, the fact that the MR device identifies which type of MR coil is connected to which device port and, correspondingly, selects or determines a set of suitable coil file parameters for this configuration.

The MR device has at least one first device port for connecting the MR coil arranged in the front side in particular and at least one second device port for connecting the MR coil disposed at the rear side, By identifying the device port to which the coil is connected, reading the identification information of the MR coil through the device port, and associating the device port with the identification information read therefrom, Lt; / RTI > may be a patient bed that is configured to determine a set of valid coil file parameters for the patient. In particular, the selected device port may dictate the specific location and / or usage of the MR coil, possibly depending on the identity of the MR coil. For example, a port of a particular type of MR coil that is uniquely identifiable by the identification information at the first device port may be indicative of its use for examination of its anterior position and / or the upper body, abdomen, liver, heart, pelvis or prostate. can do.

The MR device may also include, for example, an MR tube with at least one transmitting coil or "torso coil" within which the patient's needle can be pushed.

The object is also achieved by an MR device as described above and an accessory as described above, said at least one second accessory port of said accessory being connected to said at least one second device port of said MR device, An MR coil arranged in the rear, in which at least one coil port of its own is connected to a respective first accessory port of the accessory, and an MR coil arranged in the rear, And wherein at least one coil port of the MR device is connected to a respective first device port of the MR device, in particular an MR coil arranged in the front. The MR system has a similar design to the MR device, the accessory and / or the MR coil and can achieve the same benefits.

In particular, the MR system may comprise: a patient bed, an accessory connected to two second device ports of the patient bed by two plugs, two accessory plugs accessible by two manually pluggable components, A MR surface coil arranged on the rear side connected to the pluggable counterpart and the frontally arranged MR surface coil connected to each pluggable counterpart of the accessory by two manually pluggable parts.

In another embodiment, the MR coil disposed on the back lies on a base that can be variably placed in the patient's bed in the longitudinal direction of the patient (and thus, generally, and also in the longitudinal direction of the patient's bed). This variable position setting may include a continuous and / or continuous change to the position. In particular, the base can be embodied as a coiled slide that can be displaced relative to the patient bed. To this end, the patient bed may have one or more longitudinal guides as slide guides.

In yet another embodiment, the MR device is configured to allow the user of the MR device to position the MR coil disposed at the backside over a length of the bed, in particular in a further region over the entire length of the bed, (Positioning cushion set). To this end, the positioning cushion set may comprise, for example, a plurality of segments that can be inserted into a patient bed continuously along the length of the bed. The individual segments can be selected for insertion into the patient's bed to take the desired length. When the base for the MR coil disposed at the rear is displaced, the segments can be removed or further inserted.

The object is also achieved by a method of preparing an MR coil, wherein at least one second accessory port of the accessory is connected to at least one second device port of the patient's bed of the MR device, and at least one Wherein the coil port is connected to a respective first accessory port of the accessory and at least one coil port of the MR coil arranged in front is connected to a respective first device port of the MR device.

This method can be implemented similar to the above devices and achieve the same advantages.

For example, in one embodiment, the MR device reads related identification information from both the MR coil arranged in the front side and the MR coil arranged in the rear side, and outputs MR signals derived from the MR coils to respective coil file parameters Wherein each set of coil file parameters is selected based on the identification information read from each MR coil and the connection to each device port of each MR coil identified by the MR device do.

The above-described characteristics, features, and advantages of the present invention, as well as the manner in which they are achieved, become more apparent and more clearly understood in connection with the following schematic description of an illustrative embodiment, It will be possible. Here, for clarity, the same reference characters may be used for the same or similar functioning elements.

1 is a sectional view showing a side view of a sketch of an MR system according to the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a perspective top view of a MR surface coil in accordance with the present invention, an MR surface coil arranged in a rear side according to the present invention, and a coil slide; Fig.
3 is a top view showing the coil elements of the MR coil;
Figure 4 is a perspective top view showing a patient bed with a MR surface coil arranged at the back;
Figure 5 is a perspective top view showing a patient bed with accessories not yet plugged in;
Figure 6 is a top perspective view of an MR system with a patient's needle bed and an anteriorly attached MR coil.

Figure 1 shows a patient bed 2, an accessory 3 connected to the patient's bed 2, an MR surface coil 4 arranged in front of the patient P and an MR 1 shows an MR system 1 including MR apparatuses 2, 20 with surface coils 5.

The accessory 3 comprises two first electrical access ports, only one of which is shown here in the form of a socket 6. Each of the two sockets 6 is connected to a respective second electrical access port in the form of a plug connector 8 by adaptation or conversion via a line 7. The direct plug connector 8 is not designed to fit into the socket 6.

The two MR surface coils 4 and 5 have the same design and have the same material number, for example. They differ only in their location with respect to the patient P. These two MR surface coils 4 and 5 each comprise a plurality of coil elements Bij as shown in more detail in Fig. They also include two coil ports, each in the form of a manual plug 10. The manual plug connectors 10 are attached to each cable 11 or comprise a cable 11.

The manual plug connectors 10 of the MR surface coil 4 arranged in the front are inserted into the respective sockets 12 of the patient bed 2 serving as the first device ports, And the sockets 6 of the accessory 3 have the same design. The manual plug connectors 10 of the rear surface MR coil 5 are inserted into the respective sockets 6 of the accessory 3. Therefore, in principle, both the MR surface coils 4 and 5 can be selectively inserted either in the patient bed 2 or in the accessory 3.

The direct plug connector 8 of the accessory 3 is inserted into the matched direct pluggable counterpart 14 of the patient bed 2, which in each case serves as the second device ports ("direct connection"). Therefore, the accessory 3 serves as an adapter or a converter between the MR surface coil 5 and the patient bed 2 disposed at the rear side. The fact that the MR surface coil 5 comprises the cable 11, as opposed to the normally directly plugged coils, it is not necessary to provide any additional preparation, or more precisely, the MR surface coil 4, Along the longitudinal axis or z-axis of the patient P, as shown in Fig.

Each of the MR surface coils 4 and 5 further includes a memory 13 in which their identification information corresponding to the material number, for example, is stored, which memory is read through the manual plug connector 10 . Here, the identification information of the MR surface coils 4 and 5 are the same. The MR system 1 has the identification information for the MR surface coil 4 disposed at the front side and the identification information for the MR surface coil 5 disposed at the rear side through the sockets 12 and the identification information for the MR surface coil 5, Through the elements 14. Knowing the electrical connection 12 or 14 to be used with its identification information, the MR system determines the set of coil file parameters suitable for each of the MR surface coils 4 or 5 and processes it corresponding MR signals , Especially for imaging.

MR signals received from the coil elements Bij of the MR surface coil 4 disposed at the front side are transmitted to the MR device 2 via the interface 'manual plug connector 10-socket 12' Where the signals are used, for example, to image corresponding body parts in an evaluation device, or more precisely, using previously determined coil file parameters. On the other hand, the MR signals received by the coil elements of the MR surface coil 5 disposed at the rear side are transmitted to the accessory 3 only through the interface 'manual plug connector 10-socket 6' 3 is guided by the wiring 7 and is transmitted to the MR device 2 by means of the interface 'direct plug connector 8 - the corresponding pluggable element 14 which is directly pluggable', where the signals are also, for example, May be used to image corresponding body parts in an evaluation device, or more precisely, using previously determined coil file parameters.

Figure 2 shows the MR surface coils 4 arranged in the front and the MR surface coils 5 arranged in the backside without any patient therebetween and under the MR surface coil 5 in the longitudinal direction or in the z direction Is a perspective view with a coil slide 15 that can be displaced and the position of the MR surface coil 5 arranged on the rear side thereof by the coil slide can be correspondingly changed. In particular, this makes it possible for the MR surface coils 5 arranged in the backside to be centered in the patient bed 2 using simple means.

Two similarly designed MR surface coils 4 and 5 each have a basic shape of a mat-, cover-, or location-shape that can be adapted to the contours of the patient. The coil elements Bij are arranged in a regular pattern (here: flat, hexagonal close packed) in the MR surface coils 4 and 5, as described in more detail in Fig.

Figure 3 shows an array of hexagonal 5x6 basic patterns or "arrays" (where i = 1, ..., 5 rows and j = 1, ..., 6 columns) of two MR surface coils 4 and 5 30 coil elements < RTI ID = 0.0 > (Bij). &Lt; / RTI > Therefore, these coil elements Bij are arranged in five rows B1, ..., B5 each having six coil elements, wherein adjacent rows B1, ..., (Bij). Decoupling of the coil elements Bij is generally provided by geometric overlap. The size of the individual coil elements Bij is approximately 10 x 10 cm. At the same time, all the coil elements Bij have the same size and / or shape. The provision of a 30-channel MR surface coil 4 or 5 increases the so-called PAT factor by a greater number of receiving coil elements Bij in the field-of-view ("FOV"), And the measurement time.

In each case, one common receiving electronics unit Rx is assigned to a pair of two adjacent coil elements Bij. A total of 15 reception electronics units Rx are connected to the central flat module 16 from which the cables 11 exit. The flat module 16 further includes a memory 13 for storing identification information. Two cables 11 and a manual plug connector 10 are used to enable a large amount of data generated by a large number of coil elements Bij to be generated sufficiently fast. The flat module 16 may also include one of the reception electronics units Rx.

The flat module 16 has a Hall sensor control for position identification (e.g., 90 °, 180 ° or 270 °) of the B0 field of the body coil 20 (see FIG. 6) (Not shown).

2, the coil slide 15 includes matching recesses for the reception electronics units Rx and the flat module 16 here.

4 is a perspective top view showing the patient bed 2 with the MR surface coil 5 arranged on the back lying over the coil slide 15 (not shown). Here, the coil slide 15 is installed in the slide guides 19 of the patient bed 2 so that it can be displaced longitudinally or in the z direction. The accessory 3 is inserted into the patient bed 2 and the manual plug connectors 10 of the rear MR surface coil 5 are inserted into the left and right sides of the accessory 3. [

Fig. 5 is a top perspective view showing the patient bed 2 with the accessory 3 not yet plugged in. Fig. The direct plug connectors 8 are inserted into the respective directly pluggable corresponding elements 14 (not shown) of the patient bed 2 in the longitudinal or z-direction so that the accessory 3 is connected to the patient bed 2 (Not shown).

Figure 6 is a perspective view showing an MR system 1 with the patient's acupuncture point 2 and the whole body coil or MR tube 20 and the frontally attached MR coil 4 as components of the MR device 2, . The MR coil 5 attached to the rear side is not shown or does not exist. Alternatively, for example, it is possible to omit the MR coil 4 having the MR coil 5 attached to the rear side and attached to the front side. The coil plugs 10 of the MR coil 4 attached to the front are inserted into the side of the patient P in the first device ports 12 (not shown).

While the present invention has been illustrated and described in more detail by means of exemplary embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto and other modifications may be inferred by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention.

In general, the terms "a "," an ", and the like, unless specifically excluded, e.g., by the expression " May be understood to mean either singular or plural.

Numerical representations also include precisely indicated numbers, and may include customary permissible ranges, unless expressly excluded.

1 MR system
2 patient bed
3 Accessories
4 front-aligned MR surface coil
5 MR surface coil arranged behind
6 socket
7 Wiring
8 Direct plug connector
10 Manual plug connector
11 cable
12 socket
13 Memory
14 Direct pluggable counterpart
15 coil slide
16 flat modules
19 Slide guides
20 MR tubes
Bij coil element
P Patient
Rx reception electronics
z Z-axis

Claims

An MR device (2, 20)
- at least one first device port (12) for connecting the MR coil (4) arranged on the front side
- a patient bed (2) with at least one second device port (14) for connecting an MR coil (5) arranged on the back side
- a memory in which at least one set of coil file parameters for the MR coil (4) arranged in front and one set of coil file parameters for the MR coil (5) arranged at the rear side are stored,
- the two device ports (12, 14) are designed differently,
The MR device (2) reads the identification information of the MR coil (4) arranged in the front side through the first device port (12) and reads the identification information of the MR Is configured to read the identification information of the coil (5)
The MR apparatus (2, 20) is configured to read MR signals originating from the MR coil (4) disposed at the front side from the identification information read from the MR coil (4) disposed at the front side and the MR Is configured to process by a set of coil file parameters selected based on the connection of the coil (4) to the first device port (12)
The MR device (2, 20) is configured to read MR signals originating from the MR coil (5) disposed at the rear side from the identification information read from the MR coil (5) disposed at the rear side and the MR Is configured to process by a set of coil file parameters selected based on the connection of the coil (5) to the second device port (14).

The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the MR coil (5) disposed on the rear side lies on a base (15) that can be variably arranged in the patient's bed (2) in the longitudinal direction of the patient (P).

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The MR device (2, 20) comprises a positioning cushion set (2) having a plurality of segments that can be inserted successively into the needle bed along the length of the patient bed (2) (2, 20).

MR system 1,
- an MR device (2, 20) as claimed in claim 1,
- at least one first electrical accessory port (6) for connection to each matched electrical coil port (10) of the MR coil (5) and a respective matching electrical device port (14) of the MR device , Wherein the first accessory port (6) and the second accessory port (8) are not matched with each other, and each first accessory port (8) 6) is connected to a second accessory port (8) associated by an electrical adaptation (7), characterized in that at least one second accessory port (8) of its own is connected to said second accessory port (3), which is connected to at least one second device port (14)
- a rearwardly arranged MR coil (10) whose surface coil is provided with a plurality of coil elements (Bij) and whose at least one coil port (10) is connected to a respective first accessory port (6) 5), and
- at least one coil port (10) of the same design as the MR coil (5) arranged on the rear side is arranged in front of the MR device (2, 20) The arrayed MR coil 4,
(1).

The MR device according to claim 4, characterized in that the MR coils (4,5) are each a surface coil with a plurality of coil elements (Bij), which can be arranged both in front and rear with respect to the patient (P) System (1).

The method according to claim 4 or 5,
Wherein the MR coils (4, 5) comprise two coil ports (10) for connecting the coil elements (Bij).

A method of preparing an MR device (2, 20) as claimed in claim 1 or 2,
- at least one first electrical accessory port (6) for connection to each matched electrical coil port (10) of the MR coil (5) and a respective matching electrical device port (14) of the MR device , Wherein the first accessory port (6) and the second accessory port (8) are not matched with each other, and each first accessory port (8) 6 is provided by means of an electrical adaptation 7 to an associated second accessory port 8,
At least one second accessory port (8) of said accessory (3) is connected to at least one second device port (14) of the patient bed (2) of said MR device (2, 20)
At least one coil port 10 of the MR coil 4 arranged in front is connected to a respective first device port 12 of the MR device 2, 20,
- at least one coil port (10) of the rearwardly arranged MR coil (5) is connected to a respective first accessory port (6) of said accessory (3).

8. The method of claim 7,
The MR device (2)
- reading the related identification information from both the MR coil (4) arranged on the front side and the MR coil (5) arranged on the rear side,
- processing the MR signals originating from the MR coils (4,5) by a respective set of coil file parameters,
- each said set of coil file parameters is based on the identification information read from each MR coil (4,5) and the connection to the respective device port (12,14) of the respective MR coil (4,5) Lt; / RTI >

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