Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi Medical Corporation

Masao Yabusaki

Etsuji Yamamoto

Hideki Kohno

Munetaka Tsuda

Yoshiki Murakami

Hiroyuki Takeuchi

Hideaki Nakane

Toshihiro Ishizuka

Yukiko Ogura

Shigeru Matsui

Atsushi Takane

Yasuo Wada

Koichi Yokosawa

Takayuki Shimizu

Takashi Onodera

In an illuminating method for nuclear magnetic resonance inspection, the progress of inspection is visually informed to a patient so that the patient can easily and surely keep himself or herself at rest during a scanning period, thereby improving accuracy of the inspection and allowing the patient to feel more at ease. Control signals indicating the progress of inspection are supplied from a control circuit to an illumination control circuit. The illumination control circuit changes, based on the control signals, the intensity, color, etc. of light emitted from a magnet cavity illuminating panel in accordance with the progress of inspection. It is thus possible to visually inform the patient of the progress of inspection, improve accuracy of the inspection, and illuminate a magnetic field generating space for suppressing a feeling of uneasiness felt by the patient.

Illuminating method and apparatus in nuclear magnetic resonance

A quadrature detection device for magnetic resonance imaging includes a pair of probes each having a pair of first conductors with a vertical arm and wings formed at both ends of the vertical arm and guard rings disposed inside the wings to oppose them and predetermined capacitors. In each probe, the resonance characteristics of the probe has two peaks. Symmetry of the peak existing in the resonance frequency range is effected by spacing the peak existing in a frequency range other than the resonance frequency range apart from the former. Thus, uniformity of the resulting image can be improved. The drop of the Q value of the probe is prevented by shifting the former peak to a higher frequency range than the latter peak. Also, electric symmetry of the probe is maintained.

Probe for magnetic resonance inspection apparatus

In a nuclear magnetic resonance imaging apparatus including a first probe circuit for detecting magnetic flux in a first direction and a second probe circuit for detecting magnetic flux in a direction perpendicular to the first direction, the arm angle of conductor arms to form the first probe circuit and the arm angle of conductor arms to form the second probe circuit are different from each other.

Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging apparatus

In an imaging apparatus using the nuclear magnetic resonance, a solenoid coil and a slot-resonator coil are combined with each other so as to constitute a quadrature-phase detection probe. In order to operate the slot-resonator coil at low frequency, inductance is added to the slot-resonator coil. Further in order to cut the coupling between a transmitting coil and a receiving coil in a cross coil system, a capacitor together with the added inductance to form a resonant circuit is connected in parallel to the inductance. A favorable probe can be obtained in a vertical-magnetic field type imaging apparatus.

There is provided a probe to detect a nuclear magnetic resonance signal in which each of a plurality of arms forming a current path of an Alderman-Grant type coil is divided into two conductor plates, the two conductor plates are connected by an inductor, and a resonance frequency is reduced by increasing the inductance of the current path.

Probe for nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus

In a signal detecting circuit of, for example, an NMR apparatus, a signal transmission path transmits an AC magnetic flux signal to be superposed on a DC magnetic field whose strength does not change with time during a period of signal detection. The signal transmission path comprises a superconducting closed loop including a receiving coil receiving the AC magnetic flux signal, an input coil applying the received AC magnetic flux signal as an input to a flux meter, and a variable resistor replacing part of the superconducting closed loop and having its resistance value changed in relation to a change in the strength of the DC magnetic field.

Circuit for detecting AC magnetic field due to magnetic resonance with a

A high-frequency coil of the type of slot resonator in which outer conductors that have wing portions at both ends thereof and that are divided, are formed on the cylindrical surface, and ring-like inner conductors are formed on the inside of the wing portions. The wing portions have a width different from the width of the inner conductors. The self resonance frequency of the coil is adjusted by adjusting the width which is smaller than the other width. Further, the neighboring tips of the wing portions are opposed to each other via an air gap. The self resonance frequency is also adjusted depending upon the position of the dielectric plate inserted in the gap.

High-frequency coil for nuclear magnetic imaging

A quadrature probe for nuclear magnetic resonance includes two sets of coils which are combined with an angle of 90.degree. therebetween. Four pieces of outer conductors and two pieces of ring-shaped inner conductors are capacitively coupled to each other through an insulator or an air gap. In the outer conductor(s) in at least one of a set of outer conductors disposed at positions symmetrical with respect to each other so as to form a first coil and a set of outer conductors disposed at positions symmetrical with respect to each other so as to form a second coil, a conductor member(s) for adjustment is attached in parallel to the arm portion(s) in that outer conductor(s) of that set. Alternatively, the arm portion(s) itself in that set is slidably attached to the wing portions in that set.

Quadrature probe for nuclear magnetic resonance

Disclosed in a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) based inspection apparatus using an SQUID flux meter for detecting a small NMR signal, in which a receiving coil for receiving the NMR signal from an object is connected to a mixer, which mixes a reference high-frequency signal with the NMR signal so that the NMR signal is reduced to a low-frequency signal having a differential component of frequencies of both signals, and the low-frequency signal is applied to the input coil of the SQUID flux meter so that it is converted into a voltage signal. The mixer circuit includes Schottky diodes operative at a liquid helium temperature or Josephson junctions, and the portions of apparatus from the reception coil up to the SQUID flux meter are operated in a superconductive state at a liquid helium temperature.

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Katsuta, Japan

Masao Yabusaki