ISMRM 21st Annual Meeting & Exhibition ○ 20-26 April 2013 ○ Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
WEEKEND EDUCATIONAL COURSE
RF Engineering - Coils
SKILL LEVEL: Intermediate
ORGANIZER: Tamer S. Ibrahim, Ph.D.
Sunday, 21 April 2013
08:30-16:45
 
OVERVIEW
In this one-day course, the principles of RF coils used to detect and excite the MR signals will be discussed, beginning with the transmission lines that interconnect the coils to the MR system, and extending to single surface and volume coils and finally RF coil arrays for both transmit and receive. A discussion of the RF modeling tools used to analyze these coils and coil arrays, and their interaction with the patient and the environment will lead into the interaction of RF fields with other devices that may be found in the MR environment. The course will also include discussion of cavity and dielectric resonators. The course will conclude with a live demonstration (or by video and live commentary) of the construction and tuning of RF coils for humans and animals.
 
TARGET AUDIENCE
This course is designed for MR technicians, scientists and engineers with an interest in understanding physical principles behind MR safety issues related to RF fields, and/or the construction, design or use of RF coils and RF coil arrays.
 
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:

  • Describe the basic theory, design and construction of single and multi-tuned RF coils and their feed networks;
  • Illustrate the principles of operation and basic applications of receive and transmit RF coil arrays;
  • Compare the major methods of RF modeling commonly in use and the relative advantages and disadvantages of each; and
  • Describe the theory and applications of cavity resonators in MRI.
 

PROGRAM

Moderator: Tamer S. Ibrahim, Ph.D.

         
      RF Basics  
08:30 Circuit & Transmission Lines Scott B. King, Ph.D.
09:00 Volume & Surface Coils Ed B. Boskamp, Ph.D.
09:30 Multi-Tuned Coils Dennis W. J. Klomp, Ph.D.
         
10:00     Break - Meet the Teachers  
         
      RF Arrays  
10:30 Receive Arrays Steven M. Wright, Ph.D.
11:00 Transmit Arrays Mark E. Ladd, Ph.D.
11:30 RF Modeling Astrid L. H. M. van Lier, Ph.D.
         
12:00     Break  
      12:00-12:15 Meet the Teachers  
         
      Emerging RF Coils & Technologies  
14:00 Cavity Resonators - Theory & Possibilities for MRI Andrew G. Webb, Ph.D.
14:30 Asymmetric Coils & Travelling Waves Nicola F. De Zanche, Ph.D.
         
15:00     Break - Meet the Teachers  
         
      Live Construction of Coils  
15:30 Construction of RX Arrays Boris R. Keil, Ph.D.
         
16:30     Adjournment  
      16:30-16:45 Meet the Teachers