General Electric Company

Ge Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC

Randy Otto Giaquinto

Charles L Dumoulin

Ronald Dean Watkins

Kenneth William Rohling

Harvey E Cline

Eddy Benjamin Boskamp

Erika Schneider

Shizhe Li

A radio frequency coil assembly for use in a magnetic resonance system comprises a set of conductors for detecting magnetic resonance signals in three orthogonal planes and capacitors for resonating the set of conductors at a predetermined frequency. A conductor of the set of conductors is placed on each edge of a cube-shaped volume and the capacitors are placed on each conductor of the set of conductors such that each conductor has substantially equal effective capacitance. A four element band pass birdcage coil comprises two square end ring segments, each end ring segment comprising four sides of equal length, and four rungs of length equal to a side of the end ring segment, and wherein four rungs join in respective corners of the end ring segments.

Three axis angle invariant RF coil assembly and method and system employing same

A magnetic resonance imaging system comprises an array of radio frequency (RF) coils for producing controlled RF fields applying excitation signals to a volume of interest and a coil control circuitry configured to excite a single coil from the array of radio frequency coils at a given instant of time, where neighboring coils in the array are deactivated for the given instant of time.

Switchable transmit array coil

A magnetic resonance imaging system comprises a phased array coil assembly and a signal processing circuit. The phased array coil assembly includes a plurality of coils coextensively covering a predetermined area. Each of the plurality of coils comprises a different number of loops over the predetermined area and divides the predetermined area into at least three contiguous regions arranged linearly along the predetermined area. The signal processing circuit is coupled to the phased array coil assembly for receiving a plurality of magnetic resonance signals detected by the plurality of coils. The signal processing circuit is configured to localize the plurality of magnetic resonance signals originating in at least one of the contiguous regions.

Phased array coil assembly and method and system for employing the same

A multi-channel phased array coil for use in a magnetic resonance (MR) system is disclosed herein. The phased array coil includes N coils configured in an array, each of the N coils having a geometric shape and overlapping with (N&minus;1) coils to form an overlap area within the array. The geometric shape of each of the coils and the overlap area are configured to cause a mutual inductance between every pair of the coils to be less than 10 percent of the self-inductance of each of the N coils. At least four coils are provided in the phased array coil.

Multi-channel phased array coils having minimum mutual inductance for magnetic resonance systems

One or more flexible magnetic Resonance (MR) receive coils are constructed of a flexible material and connected to a flexible base to produce a module. Each module has the coils overlapping by a predetermined amount to minimize coupling between the coils. The modules may be connected by attachment means placed at predefined locations to cause overlap of adjacent coils such that the coupling is minimized. Balanced-unbalanced ('baluns') may be used to couple each receive coil to its lead cable connecting it to the MR imaging electronics. The baluns effectively isolate the coils from the cables and each other to optimize signal-to-noise ratio of the received signal.

Flexible lightweight attached phased-array (FLAP) receive coils

A novel breast localization and biopsy system employs a chest support for holding the patient in a slightly rotated (20.degree.-30.degree.) prone position allowing the breast tissue hang downward and fit through an opening in the chest support, while holding the other breast against the subject away from the imaging region. A pair of support plates compress the breast tissue. At least one of the support plates has a grid with reference markers for localization and windows allowing a physician access to the breast tissue. A thick biopsy plate with a plurality of holes at marked positions fits into one of the grid openings and guides an interventional device, such a biopsy needle, into a desired location in a lesion. In an alternative embodiment, both breasts fit through the chest support. There are two stabilization plate assemblies, one for each breast and two medical imaging sources. Each source points from the lateral to medial support plate to accomplish imaging of both breasts simultaneously.

Image guided breast lesion localization device

A patient isolation device is used as a safety device to provide electrical insulation between medical electronic equipment and portions of the equipment which come in contact with the patient. In one implementation of the patient isolation device, an RF coil is incorporated in a catheter connected to medical electronic equipment which tracks the position of the catheter. Typically, there is also medical imaging electronics to provide internal images of the subject along with an indication of the location of the catheter. Typically, the signal from the RF coil is provided to a preamplifier to amplify the signal. The isolation device is placed between the RF coil and the preamplifier such that MR response signals may pass through to the preamplifiers but in the event of a short or electrical malfunction the line voltage will not pass backward into the RF coil causing damage to the patient.

Growing community of inventors

Burnt Hills, NY, United States of America

Randy Otto Giaquinto