Contact: Stefan Benders
While MRI is a very powerful technique in medicine and engineering, the field of low-field NMR and MRI is relatively young. Advancements in permanent magnet technology as well as in miniaturization of electronics have made it possible to construct relatively cheap and small magnets. These systems are typically used for NMR relaxometry, but when shimmed and equipped with a gradient system can provide imaging capabilities.
The system status
The system is situated in the IPI. The spectrometer is able to pulse and receive -albeit with bad signal-to-noise-. The gradient amplifier is working – but not ideally matched yet. The DAC for gradient control are not functional yet. A move to the Marge GUI is initialized.
Your tasks
- Familiarize yourself with the system, including the Red Pitaya python interface
- Get the gradient DAC to work with the system
- Design an enclosure concept to house the electronics
- Write custom gradient sequences in the Marge-Interface
- Write imaging sequences to measure quantities like density and flow
Beneficial:
- Basic knowledge of electronics/RF
- Basic knowledge of magnetic resonance
- Basic knowledge of Python
Alternatively:
To enlarge the applicability of MRI in engineering, the use of low-field systems as a mobile scanner can be beneficial. A construction of a Halbach-Array such as the OSII-project is desired here. Strong mechanical skills are required in that case.