A digital receiver with fast frequency- and gain-switching capabilities for MRI systems

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Electrical Engineering
• Signal Processing

Background:

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) systems face challenges with phase coherence and receiver dynamic range.
• Maintaining signal integrity is crucial for high-resolution MRI acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address phase coherence and dynamic range limitations in MRI digital receivers.
• To propose and implement a digital receiver with fast frequency and gain switching capabilities.

Main Methods:

• Developed a digital receiver incorporating a variable gain amplifier, high-speed ADC, and digital receiver core.
• Implemented synchronous frequency switching and gain-switching techniques for improved receiver performance.
• Utilized on-board SDRAM for pre-storing receiver waveforms to enable rapid switching.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated successful integration and operation of the digital receiver within an imaging spectrometer.
• Verified performance improvements through experiments on a 0.3-T MRI system.
• Achieved significant enhancements in phase coherence and receiver dynamic range.

Conclusions:

• The proposed digital receiver effectively improves phase coherence and dynamic range in MRI systems.
• This technology holds promise for acquiring high-resolution, multi-slice 2D MRI images.
• The developed digital receiver is a valuable advancement for MRI applications.