An Inexpensive and Programmable RF Transmitter Setup for Two-coil CASL

Area of Science:

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
• Radiofrequency (RF) Engineering
• Medical Device Design

Background:

• Two-coil continuous arterial spin labeling (CASL) systems traditionally require expensive MRI RF instruments.
• Existing CASL implementations present barriers to accessibility due to high costs and complex hardware requirements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an inexpensive and programmable RF transmitter for two-coil CASL systems.
• To reduce the cost of CASL implementation without sacrificing RF performance.
• To offer a user-friendly interface for sequence setup and debugging.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a low-cost system-on-chip direct digital synthesizer for RF waveform generation.
• Employed a mini-size communication RF power amplifier.
• Designed for minimal MR scanner hardware modifications compared to single RF channel approaches.

Main Results:

• Successfully generated the labeling RF waveform with high performance using affordable components.
• The new design requires minimal modifications to existing MR scanner hardware.
• Demonstrated ease of use through a programmable interface for sequence setup and debugging.

Conclusions:

• The presented inexpensive and programmable RF transmitter offers a viable and cost-effective solution for two-coil CASL MRI.
• This innovation enhances the accessibility of advanced CASL imaging techniques.
• Experimental validation confirmed the system's performance and ease of use.