The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 16, 2004
Filed:
Apr. 09, 2003
Jinhua Huang, Florence, SC (US);
Bu-Xin Xu, Florence, SC (US);
Bijan Dorri, Clifton Park, NY (US);
Bruce Amm, Clifton Park, NY (US);
General Electric Company, Milwaukee, WI (US);
Abstract
The present invention is directed to a method of shimming a magnet assembly of an MR imaging system such that a desired B field strength may be created with minimal inhomogeneities therethrough. With this method, sufficient shimming of the magnet assembly may be achieved without requiring mechanical variations to the magnet assembly after the magnet assembly has been assembled. The invention analyzes variations from the desired B field and inhomogeneities at a number of target points along the magnet assembly or B field. A comparison is then made at each point to determine a shimming or weighting factor such that the desired overall B field strength and targeted field homogeneity is achieved. Active and/or passive shim elements may then be incorporated into the magnet assembly at each target point to achieve the desired overall field strength and minimum overall field homogeneity.