Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Samuel Tadesse (MSc.)

Content

• Introduction to MRI

• Physics of MRI

• Technology

• Instrumentation

• Image formation
Introduction to MRI

• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a spectroscopic imaging technique

used in medical settings to produce images of the inside of the human
body

• MRI is based on the principles of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR),

which is a spectroscopic technique used to obtain microscopic chemical
and physical data about molecules

• In 1977 the first MRI exam was performed on a human being. It took 5
hours to produce one image
 History: MRI

• 1940s – Bloch & Purcell: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

• 1973 - Lauterbur: gradients for spatial localization of images

• 1977 – Mansfield: first image of human anatomy, first echo planar image (a fast
imaging technique)
• 1990s - Discovery that MRI can be used to distinguish oxygenated blood from
deoxygenated blood. Leads to Functional Magnetic Resonance imaging (fMRI)
• Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield won the Nobel Prize in
Physiology/Medicine (2003) for their pioneering work in MRI
FMRI
How does it work ?
• The magnetic resonance imaging is accomplished through the absorption and
emission of energy of the radio frequency (RF) range of the electromagnetic
spectrum.

Why MRI:
• Utilizes non ionizing radiation. (unlike x-rays)
• Ability to image in any plane. (unlike CT scans)
• Very low incidents of side effects
• Ability to diagnose, visualize, and evaluate various illnesses

• Nuclear alignment-> RF excitation-> Spatial Encoding->Image formation

video_how MRI works
 SPIN
• Almost all sub-atomic particles have “spin”
• All nuclei with odd numbers of
protons/neutrons will have non-zero net spin
• All hydrogen protons will act like little
magnets

The abundance of water in the

human body makes this very
powerful!
 SPIN
• Magnetization can be: moved/rotated by applying excitation (RF)
• Resonate: Magnetization will “resonate” at a frequency
proportional to magnetic field strength
• Relaxation: The oscillations die out, i.e. magnetization “relaxes”
back to equilibrium – speed of relaxation is tissue-dependent! (T1
and T2)

Normally: protons randomly oriented ⇒ no net magnetism

External field: protons align slightly ⇒ net magnetization (M) in ppm

Coordinate system
• Direction of main field (B0) defines coordinate system
• Longitudinal axis: parallel to B0 (typically z)
• Longitudinal magnetization: Portion of M aligned with B0

• Direction of main field (B0) defines coordinate system

• Transverse plane: perpendicular to B0 (typically x,y)
• Transverse magnetization: Portion of M perpendicular to B0
Magnetic resonance
• Magnetic: external field (B0) magnetizes sample
• Resonance: magnetization has characteristic (resonant)
frequency proportional to external field B0
 Components

• A magnet which produces a very powerful

uniform magnetic field.
• Gradient Magnets which are much lower in
strength.
• Equipment to transmit radio frequency (RF).
• A very powerful computer system, which
translates the signals transmitted by the coils.
The Magnet

• The most important component of the MRI scanner is the magnet:

• The magnets currently used in scanners today are in

• the .5-tesla to 7.0-tesla range (5,000 to 70,000-gauss).

• Higher values are used for research.

• Earth magnetic field: 0.5-gauss

• 11.7T, human brain study

The tesla is the SI unit for magnetic field strength.
Compare this with the Earth's magnetic field in Paris,
which is 0.00005 T
Instrumentation
Cont.
Three type of magnetic field required: Radiofrequency Field (B1)
• Static High Field (B0) – Excites or perturbs signal into a measurable form
– Creates or polarizes signal – On the order of O.1 G but in resonance with MR signal
– 1000 Gauss to 100,000 Gauss, Earth's field is 0.5 G – RF coils also measure MR signal
Gradient Fields – Excited or perturbed signal returns to equilibrium
– 1-4 G/cm • Important contrast mechanism
– Used to image: determine spatial position of MR signal
Cont.
• Three ways to achieve magnetic field:
• Permanent, resistive (air core and iron core), superconductive
• 0.5-11T strength range
• Pros and cons in terms of: Cost, weight, field strength, stability, homogeneity, and
fringe fields
• cons: cryogens of liquid helium and liquid nitrogen, expensive, create large fringe
extend a large distance making the siting expensive and difficult
Cont.
Cont.

Permanent magnet:
• < 3% of all magnets
• < 0.3 T
• Economic, open
• Small fringe field
Resistive magnet:
• – Using a current loop through a metal wire
• – ~ 50 kW, needs cooling water
• – Heat constrains maximum current -> 0.15 - 0.3 T
Summary
•Resistive : coils of wire wrapped around a cylinder through which an electric current is passed.
•This generates a magnetic field.
•These magnets are lower in cost to make than a superconducting magnet but need huge
amounts of electricity to operate because of the natural resistance of the wire.
•The electricity can get expensive when higher power magnets are needed.

•Permanent magnet : is just that -- permanent. The magnetic field is always there and always at
full strength. Therefore, it costs nothing to maintain the field.
•Extremely heavy: sometimes many, many tons. Some strong fields would need magnets so
heavy they would be difficult to construct.

•Superconducting magnets : are by far the most commonly used in MRIs. Superconducting
magnets are somewhat similar to resistive magnets - coils of wire with a passing electrical
current create the magnetic field. The important difference is that in a superconducting magnet
the wire is continually bathed in liquid helium (at a cold 452.4 degrees below zero).,
dramatically reducing the electricity requirement for the system and making it much more
economical to operate.
ZERO BOIL-OFF MAGNETS AND HELIUM LOSS

• "Zero boil-off" means that a magnet that does not lose helium during the
normal course of operation.

• Zero boil-off magnets generally consist of systems that are designed to

have very low heat leak.

• That, and also the cryo-cooler is designed to liquefy the vapor that boils off
from the cryogen and return it to the reservoir, similar to boiling a pot of
water with a lid.
Cont.
Cont.
Cont.
Bo uniform field Characterization

• Magnet type either of the three

• Magnetic strength: 0.3-11T
• Technology implemented to create the field: Zero boil
off/helium refill free
• Shielding type Active/Passive
• Magnet homogeneity in :DSV (Diameter of spherical volume):
10,20,30…
• Bore length:1.25cm-1.50 cm
• Bore diameter: 70cm
• Fringe field level
RF coils create the B1 field which rotates the net magnetization in a pulse
sequence. (transmission mode)

• They also detect the transverse magnetization as it precesses in the XY plane.

(receive mode)
• Three general categories;

1) transmit and receive coils,

2) receive only coils, and
3) transmit only coils. Nearfield antennas

• Coils are resonant circuits, tuned w/ capacitors for efficient transmitting and
receiving at Larmor frequency (improved SNR)
– w0=1/sqrt(LC)
• Safety: limit absorbed power to prevent heating in excess of 1°C
Signal acquisition
RF Characterization

• Digital system transmitting and receiving

• RF power: 15-30KW
• RF safety protocol
• Number of independent channels in single FOV and single
scan that can acquire independent image minimum: 32 or
more
Coil types: body part specific with
different channel numbers
• Head
• Neck
• Knee/foot
• Toe
• Wrist
Coil size:
• Large
• Medium
• Small
Time scale: T2 and T1
• T1: is the spin-lattice relaxation time-scale for the longitudinal magnetization to come
back to its initial value
• T2: is the spin-spin relaxation time for the transverse magnetization to decrease to
zero
Cont.
Cont.
Cont.
Cont.
T1 relaxation
T1-weighted imaging: higher spatial
resolution
T2-weighted imaging: higher tissue
contrast
typically both time-scales are used
T2 relaxation T1 relaxation
Physics
Nuclear spin

• Fundamental property of all atoms in nature like mass or charge

• Odd number of proton/neutron
• Small magnetic field, -/+ sign, expressed as multiple of 1/2
Cont.

• Human body mainly composed of water, 63% hydrogen

• positively charged, spin about a central axis,
• a moving (spinning) charge creates a magnetic field.
• the straight arrow (vector) indicates the direction of the magnetic field

Criteria for imaging nuclei:

• To be imaged, nuclei must:
• have an odd number of neutrons, protons, or both
• be abundant in the body
Interaction with magnetic field
• When placed in a large magnetic field, hydrogen atoms have a strong
tendency to align in the direction of the magnetic filed
• Inside the bore of the scanner, the magnetic field runs down the center of the tube in
which the patient is placed, so the hydrogen protons will line up in either the
direction of the feet or the head.
• The majority will cancel each other, but the net number of protons is sufficient to
produce an image
Cont.

Energy absorption
• The MRI machine applies radio frequency (RF) pulse that is specific to
hydrogen.
• The RF pulses are applied through a coil that is specific to the part of the
body being scanned.
Cont.

Resonance:
• The gradient magnets are rapidly turned on and off which alters the main
magnetic field.
• The pulse directed to a specific area of the body causes the protons to absorb
energy and spin in different direction, which is known as resonance
• Frequency (Hz) of energy absorption depends on strength of external magnetic field.
Cont.

• the resonance frequency, w0, is referred to

as the Larmor frequency
• this frequency is needed to excite
transverse magnetization (precession)
Cont.
Imaging:
• When the RF pulse is turned off the hydrogen protons slowly
• return to their natural alignment within the magnetic field and release
their excess stored energy. This is known as relaxation

What happens to the released energy?

• Released as heat OR
• Exchanged and absorbed by other protons OR
• Released as Radio Waves.
Cont.
Measuring the MR Signal:
• The moving proton vector induces a signal in the RF
antenna
• The signal is picked up by a coil and sent to the
computer system.
• The received signal is sinusoidal in nature
• The computer receives mathematical data, which is
converted through the use of a Fourier transform into
an image.

http://www.cea.fr/english/Pages/News/voyage-aimant-IRM-pr
ojet-iseult.aspx
cont.
2D Fourier Imaging
Raw 2D k-space data Processed data

Magnitude of Fourier transform

Cont.

The principal applications for MRI are

– head and spine (73%),
– bone and joints(17%),
– body (10%)
Frequency Encoding
S.T (MSc.)
Frequency Encoding Gradient

• The NMR signal from each x-position contains a specific center frequency.

• The over-all MR signal is the sum of signals along x.

• A Fourier transform will recover signal contribution at each frequency, i.e.

x-location, and the resulting spectrum will determine a projection of the
desired imaged object
Cont.
Cont.
 Phase encoding

Position of the spins in the third spatial dimension is determined with a phase encode
gradient (PEG),
• Phase represents a variation in the starting point of sinusoidal waves,
• After the initial localization of the excited protons in the slab of tissue by the Gz, all
spins are in phase coherence (they have the
same phase).
• During the application of the Gy, a linear variation in the precessional frequency of the
excited spins occurs across the tissue slab along the direction of the gradient.
After the Gy is turned off, Phase advances for protons in the positive gradient, and
phase retards for protons in the negative gradient, while no phase shift occurs for
protons at the null
FOV vs. Resolution
• The detail we can see in an MRI image is dependent on
both FOV and Resolution.
– For a fixed FOV
• Increasing Resolution increases detail.
• Decreasing Resolution decreases detail.
– For a fixed Resolution
• Increasing FOV decreases detail.
• Decreasing FOV increases detail.