19 ^ CL eo|thcore lR pub||cot|on - $pr|ng 2008

0 l T l C ^ L R f l $ $ U L $ l 0T L l C T
lntroduc|ng 0pt|cs to Rf
$o /ou Con $horpen /our focus
on uo||ty ond lerormonce
^pp||cot|ons or who|e-body |mog|ng, reo|-t|me cord|oc, h|gh reso|ut|on controst k|net|c
|mog|ng ond unct|ono| lRl |ncreose the necessory rote ond quo||ty o doto ocqu|s|t|on.
Loch o these opp||cot|ons con generote |orge vo|umes o |moges |n o short per|od o t|me
ond requ|re o h|gh s|gno|-to-no|se rot|o |$NRl to best mon|tor phys|o|og|c ond/or onotom|c
chonges. Comb|n|ng th|s |ncreosed demond or greoter doto monogement w|th the need
or enc|ent pot|ent ond techno|og|st workfow mokes the rod|o requency |Rfl rece|ver
system o on lR sconner o cr|t|co| component |n system des|gn.
By Bill Peterson, Principal Engineer, RF Electronics, GE Healthcare
20 ^ CL eo|thcore lR pub||cot|on - $pr|ng 2008
l $ $ U L $ l 0T L l C T 0 l T l C ^ L R f
The RF Receiver controls the entire chain of events from
connect|on o the suroce co||s through the d|g|t|zot|on
ond tronsm|ss|on o doto to the reconstruct|on eng|ne or
process|ng ond ono|ys|s. The $|gno

lR750 3.0T 0pt|co| Rf

system wos des|gned to enhonce o|| o these cr|t|co| ospects
o lR |moge ocqu|s|t|on - |moge $NR, ocqu|s|t|on speed ond
pot|ent ond techno|og|st workfow - wh||e o|so prov|d|ng
a platform for advanced research and development.
SNR and data acquisition speed
The 0pt|co| Rf system |mproves $NR by up to 27 percent over
convent|ono|, non-opt|co| lR rece|vers by reduc|ng e|ectr|co|
no|se ond |mprov|ng s|gno| detect|on. Convent|ono| lR sconners
have the RF receivers in the electronics room where the MR
s|gno| |s subject to s|gn|ncont e|ectr|co| no|se pr|or to be|ng
d|g|t|zed. The $|gno lR750 0pt|co| Rf rece|vers ore |ocoted
on the mognet system |ns|de the sh|e|ded scon room,
comp|ete|y |so|oted rom externo| no|se sources. The lR
s|gno| |s d|g|t|zed w|th|n the scon room ond then opt|co||y
tronsm|tted to the reconstruct|on eng|ne |n the e|ectron|cs
room. Th|s des|gn s|gn|ncont|y |mproves |moge quo||ty. ^|so,
s|nce the |ntens|ty o on ono|og lR s|gno| decreoses os |t
trove|s o|ong o w|re, the c|ose prox|m|ty o the rece|vers to
the pot|ent urther |mproves |moge quo||ty.
The use of optical transmission in the telecommunication
|ndustry prov|des o robust method o doto tronser thot |s
|mmune to externo| no|se. The 0pt|co| Rf system |n the $|gno
lR750 uses o s|m||or method to ensure h|gh speed ond h|gh
quo||ty |mog|ng. The rece|ve e|ectron|cs ore sco|eob|e |n
l6-chonne| |ncrements up to l28 s|mu|toneous ocqu|s|t|on
channels. Each receive channel operates an independent
80lhz d|g|t|zer |ns|de the scon room. Th|s h|gh somp||ng rote
prov|des o very |ow no|se foor, better dynom|c ronge ond
thus, h|gher $NR. The vo|ume o doto creoted dur|ng th|s
phose o |moge ocqu|s|t|on |s s|gn|ncont, thereore, 2 C3/sec
2l ^ CL eo|thcore lR pub||cot|on - $pr|ng 2008
0 l T l C ^ L R f l $ $ U L $ l 0T L l C T
optical transmission is used to transfer the data to the
vo|ume reconstruct|on eng|ne |vRLl or process|ng ond |moge
generot|on |n the e|ectron|cs room.
U|tro h|gh-dens|ty 32-chonne| co||s w|th poro||e| |mog|ng enob|e
|mog|ng rome rotes thot were not prev|ous|y otto|nob|e |n
the c||n|co| env|ronment. The ost sw|tch|ng copob|||ty ond
h|gh-speed |nteroce techno|ogy o the 0pt|co| Rf system
oc|||totes reo| t|me |moge ocqu|s|t|on ond d|sp|oy rom
32-chonne| |ndependent rece|vers. The $|gno

lR750 3.0T
etreme grod|ent system generotes shorter TR/TLs to urther
|ncreose the rote o doto throughput.
The comb|not|on o no|se |mmun|ty ond |mproved s|gno|
detect|on w|th the $|gno lR750 0pt|co| Rf system resu|ts |n
an SNR improvement relative to conventional RF receivers.
Simplied exam preparation
The $|gno lR750 co|| |nteroces ore ougmented w|th our
new h|gh-dens|ty co|| connectors. These new 32-chonne|
connectors |n the 0pt|co| Rf system ore d|str|buted on the
mognet system ond oot o the $|gno lR750 pot|ent tob|e,
the |ndustry's on|y u||y detochob|e lR tob|e w|th o co||
|nteroce or s|mp||ned exom preporot|on. Loch connector
provides mechanical assistance for simple insertion and
extroct|on or h|gh-dens|ty, mu|t|-stot|on sconn|ng o the
ent|re body. The connectors on the detochob|e tob|e o||ow the
techno|og|st to u||y prepore o pot|ent outs|de o the exom
room to dromot|co||y |mprove sconner enc|ency, reduc|ng
pot|ent prep t|me by os much os 7l percent. The h|gh-dens|ty
connect|ons o|so s|mp||y the p|ocement ond use o suroce
co||s ond occe|erotes poro||e| |mog|ng speed to reduce exom
durot|on. for systems w|th o nxed pot|ent tob|e, pot|ent
preporot|on t|me moy opprooch the |ength o the doto
ocqu|s|t|on t|me.
Advanced research and development
The 0pt|co| Rf orch|tecture on the $|gno lR750 |s sco|ob|e
or both proton ond broodbond requenc|es. The system w|||
support up to l28 |ndependent|y contro||ed rece|vers w|th
|ndependent b|os ||nes or odvonced suroce co|| des|gns ond
s|gno| rout|ng. for non-proton |mog|ng, the 0pt|co| Rf system
ond orch|tecture con s|mu|toneous|y ocqu|re e|ght chonne|s
o mu|t|nuc|eor |broodbondl doto. C|ven the exce||ent
dynom|c ronge ond no|se |mmun|ty o the 0pt|co| Rf system,
the $|gno lR750 |s on |deo| p|otorm or odvonc|ng c||n|co|
applications and research and development.
Conclusion
The $|gno lR750 0pt|co| Rf system oers exce||ent dynom|c
ronge ond no|se |mmun|ty, pot|ent workfow |mprovements
ond greoter s|gno| detect|on w|th oster doto tronsm|ss|on.
3y oddress|ng cr|t|co| des|gn ospects, the $|gno lR750 |s
the ideal platform for advanced clinical use and research
and development.