ReviewofMRIPhysics.ppt

MRI: Slice Selection The Larmor frequency is dependent on B0, the external magnetic field By varying B0 over the subject, we can choose a frequency that will only excite a particular part of the subject Different values of B0 will tune the photons to require different energies (w) If we only give one frequency of EMF, only one slice will be excited” Z MRI: Slice Selection Now we have an excited plane of protons We reset B0 so that the field is uniform We wait for the energy to be re-transmitted as a radio signal The results are not very exciting The whole signal is at the frequency we put in It starts loud, and exponentially decays Z X Y SX SY Questions? MRI: What We Have So Far We have selectively charged a slab of brain with radiofrequency EMF We turned off the magnet, and got signals back from all over the slab What we need is to know where each signal came from Z Right now, all we can “see” is the net magnetization vector, but we can see it in several directions: x, y, z Therefore we can measure signal averaged over the whole slice That’s not a very interesting picture A Trick Necessary to Continue The energy absorbed by an excited particle is determined by the field it is acting against in order to become excited Electrons: attraction with nucleus Spinning top: gravity Protons in NMR: magnetic field Note that the last one is very easily manipulated Changing the Rules in Midstream By changing the strength of the magnetic field (re-writing the rules of attraction in mid-stream), the protons can be manipulated “on the fly” Increase the field to increase precession speed Increase the field to increase their resonance frequency Consider increasing gravity on a spinning top MRI: Getting Coordinates in Plane (X) We need to revisit Lauterbur’s idea with the trick we just learned in order to use frequency to map location Once we get the spins saturated, we can vary B0 over x X Z B0 still points in the same direction, but make it stronger on one side of the patient th