Slide :1

Hello everyone. Welcome all of you to this course, MRI Fundamentals. Let's
start to talk about overview of MRI first in this week. I will talk about biomedical
imaging modalities first. We have four different categories for biomedical
imaging modalities. First, we have radiographic imaging, which has X-ray and CT.
So it's about the transmission of X-rays through the body and detection of X-
rays on the opposite side of the body. Nuclear medicine includes a planar
scintigraphy, SPECT and PET. So it's about the injection or radiotracers in the
bloodstream of the body, and detection of gamma rays emitted from
radiotracers within the body. And ultrasound is about the transmission of
ultrasonic waves toward the body, and detection of reflective ultrasonic waves
from the body. And the MRI is about placing the body in the stong magnetic
field that cause spin systems to precess, and transmitting radio frequency
energy to the body, which cause a magnetic resonance, and receives radio
frequency energy induced in the body. So we are talking about MRI in detail in
these course.
Slide 2

• So this is electromagnetic spectrum of the biomedical imaging modalities. So

first, the ultrasound has low frequency, which has a slightly higher frequency
than the frequency that we can hear. And the radio frequency is about about
100 megahertz level, it's about MRI, and we have infrared and visible light
which has optical imaging, and then above that frequency level, we have X-
rays and also gamma rays. So gamma rays are used for nuclear medicine. So
these are the electromagnetic wave spectrum. So this portion is wavelength
and also this portion is frequency.
Slide 3
• So let's talk about the beauty of biomedical imaging modalities. So first, they are non-
invasive. So ultrasound and MRI, they are completely non-invasive, and X-ray, CT, SPECT
and PET. So these modalities cause radiation exposure, but still they are considered non-
invasive. And they provide tomographic imaging. And CT, SPECT, PET, ultrasound, MRI. So
they provide tomographic imaging capability, and X-ray and CT, they provide only
projection imaging. So biomedical imaging modalities also provide some certain
information beyond anatomical information, which has physiological information,
metabolic information, and functional information of our bodies. Especially SPECT, PET,
and diffusion/perfusion rated MRI, and functional MRI, so these modalities provide these
physiological, metabolic, and the functional information of our body. So this information
cannot be detected through simple dissection of our body. This is also beauty of
biomedical imaging modalities.
Slide 4
• So we will talk about MRI in this course, let's talk about MRI in comparison with other
imaging modalities. So, MRI provide relatively high spatial resolution, and it also provides
a high soft tissue contrast, and it also provides tomographic imaging capabilities.
Especially MRI provides much modern tomographic imaging capability because it can
scan along any direction. So that is a unique feature of MRI, which we talk in detail later.
And MRI is a completely non-invasive, and also it is a kind of integration on many
different imaging modalities like anatomy, physiology, metabolism and the function. So
these information can be scanned or acquired all together within our single imaging
modality. So that is also unique and a great advantage of MRI.
Slide 5
• And also MRI has a feature called pulse sequencing. So each time sequencing of currents
in radio frequency coils and the gradient coils. Manipulation of these pulse sequences
provide various information over our body beyond anatomy, and also a physiological and
functional imaging is possible, so which had perfusion, diffusion tensor imaging, and
functional MRI. So these imaging features are possible with MRI. Because of that, MRI
research field has been growing very fast during the recent years. And these figures show
some examples of these imaging modalities like perfusion imaging, and diffusion tensor
imaging, which provides neuronal fiber information, and also this is MR angiography, so
this provides ulterior information, and this is venous information. And these are the
functional imaging maps. That's the somatosensory cortex, and the human visual cortex.
So these informations can be acquired with MRI even without any injection of contrast
agent, so these are acquired completely non-invasive.
Slide 6
• Let's talk about signal source of MRI. So what is the main signal source of MRI than it's protons, the
hydrogens. And then, why protons are so important. And then protons behave like tiny magnets.
• Question 1:
• Which statement is not true?
• MRI can provide anatomical, physiological, and functional information of our body in one single
imaging system.
• MRI and ultrasound are noninvasive medical imaging tools.
• MRI can make images with many different contrasts.
• MRI generates only small amounts of ionizing radiation.
• Correct
• MRI does not generate any ionizing radiation.
Slide 7
• So as shown here, protons rotate which is called spin angular
momentum. And this cause magnetic moments, which looks like
a tiny magnet. So each proton looks like a tiny magnet, so
protons behave like tiny magnets.
Back to slide 6
• And 70 percent of our body consist of water, which has two protons. There are
abundant signal sources in our body for MRI signal, and that's why MRI has been
so successful so far. And what other nuclei can be used for MRI? And then these
are the list: C13, and flourine 19, and sodium 23, and octium 17, and phosphorus
31. And these nuclei can be used for MRI and or some others with odd atomic
number or odd mass number can be used for MR imaging. But these nuclei, the
candidate actually used for MRI. But most of the case, if we talk about MRI, more
than 99 percent is about the proton.
Slide 8
• Let's talk about the brief procedure of MR Image acquisition. This is MRI
machine from the outside viewpoint. This is partial sequencing which has a
time sequencing or radio frequency coil to create three gradient coils. This
time sequencing is repeated to acquire data. And then that compose a two
dimensional or three dimensional data space called K-space, we will talk
about that later. And then applying for field transform to this K-space provides
MR imaging. This is a very brief procedure of MR image acquisition.
Slide 9
• Well, here is the synopsis of MRI. Magnetic means putting a subject in the strong
magnetic field generated by the main magnet, so that is about the magnetic. And
resonance part is a transmitting radio frequency energy to the subject through an
RF coil, and then turning off transmitter, and then receiving RF signals emitted by
the subject using another RF coil while the same RF coil used for the
transmission, and that is about the resonance. And the imaging part is spatially
modulating the magnetic field strengths to distinguish signals from different
locations using gradient coils, nd we will talk about that in detail later.
Slide 10
• And let's talk about the three major hardware components of MRI. The
magnet is about a typically superconducting, which cause magnetic field, and
a radio frequency is transmitting and receiving signal, and then this cause
resonance, and there's a set of three gradient coils which has a long x, y, and z
direction, which provides spatial information so the imaging is possible. Here
is a schematic diagram of MRI hardware. Outside is about a superconducting
magnet, and inside the magnet is three gradient coils along x, y, and z
direction, and then inside MR gradient coils, there exists RF coils. Right inside
the RF coil exist just like inside the gradient coils which is premounted on the
MRI scanner. And then that is typically used for transmission of signal, and
then we use small RF coil for detection of the signal. This is typical procedure.
Slide 11
• This is schematic diagram of MRI instrumentations. So we have main magnet,
gradient coil, and RF coils. Pulse sequence generator generates pulse
sequencing for applying current to the RF coils and the gradient coils, which
can be determined by the pulse sequence generator and the programmer.
And then the RF electronics transmits current to the RF coils and then we
detect, and then this signal is modulated by the gradient field and then that
provides spatial information, and spatially modulated RF signal is detected
through the RF coil, and then it goes through imaging reconstuction computer,
and then we can see the image on the console computer. So this is overall
schematic diagram of MRI instrumentation.
Slide 12
• Queston 2:
• Which of the following nucleus is most widely used for MR
• 23Na
• 13C
• 1H
• 19F
• Correct
• Our body has plenty of water which is composed of two 1H protons.

• Slide 12:
• So, we will talk about three major hardware components of MRI in detail. And in this video lecture, we will talk about
magnet first.
Slide 13
• So, MRI magnet, so how strong are the magnets in MRI machines, and
magnetic field strengths of earth ranges from 0.25 to 0.65 gauss, so on
average about 0.5 gauss. And one Tesla, Tesla is the typical unit used for MRI
to represent MRI magnetic field strength, and one Tesla is 10,000 gauss. So,
one Tesla MRI scanner has 20,000 times the earth's magnet, and human MRI
scanners are typically in the order of Tesla. And recently, FDA approved seven
Tesla human MRI for clinical diagnoses. But however, most MRI scanners for
clinical diagnosis is up to three Tesla at this point. And beyond that three Tesla
is mostly for research purpose at this point.
Slide 14
• A main function of magnet is, that causes proton spins to rotate
well, which we represent as a precess. So, those spins rotate at a
frequency proportional to the magnetic field, which is called
resonance frequency.
back to slide 13
• So, this is the main function of magnet, just rotate, make the proton spins to
precess at a specific frequency. So, without magnetic field, all the proton spins
in our body, they rotate but they are not precessing. They are just aligned
along random directions. But, when they are placed in a strong magnetic field,
they start to be rotate in itself and also they precess along a specific direction.
This is a main feature or main function of magnet.
• (need to add a slide to rotating protons)
Slide 15
• There are two types of MRI magnet. So, one that superconducting magnet,
and the other is a permanent magnet. The superconducting magnet is, for
that it can achieve high magnetic field and also it has a high maintenance
costs for a magnet. And it's most popular in hospital because it can achieve
high magnetic field and high magnetic field provides high SNR. So, in most
cases people will use superconducting magnet for MRI scanners. And
permanent magnet is also used in some, most of the case in local hospitals.
So, because magnetic field strength is limited to about one Tesla. But, it does
not cause maintenance cost, almost no maintenance costs for magnet, so the
maintenance cost is much low. So, it's more useful for local hospitals. But, the
signal, image quality that we can achieve is a little bit lower than the magnet
we can use for the superconducting MRI.
Slide 16
• And why are MRI scans so expensive? And the reason is, it's difficult to make the
magnetic field uniform. So, MRI scanning is certainly pretty expensive. It's more difficult
with a higher magnetic field and wider bore size, which is directly related to the price of
MRI. So, the human scanner requires wide bore size, and also, it requires high magnetic
fields, which provide high signal. So, which is directly related to the price of MRI and it's
also directly related to the cost of each MRI scan. And also, helium is required for
maintaining a superconducting magnet and helium is expensive. And these days, people
try to develop a new magnet which minimize helium usage, and also recycles the helium.
Boiled-off helium can be recycled for the usage. And then that can minimize the cost for
the helium. But still, the maintenance cost is still expensive. So, MRI is an integration of a
lot of hardware equipment, so that requires high maintenance costs. And also, because
of that, MRI scans are so expensive.
Question 3 and slide 17
• Which statement is not true?
• MRI with superconducting magnets are popular in hospitals.
• Magnetic field strength of a 3T MRI corresponds to 60000 times the earth’s magnetic field.
• There are 3T human MRIs with permanent magnets.
• MRI price increases with field strength and bore size.
• Correct
• Permanent magnets can generate field strength up to about 1T for human MRI, therefore 3T human
MRIs cannot be made using a permanent magnet.
• SkipContinue

• Slide 17:
• We will talk about resonance part here.
Slide 18
• So, the resonance part is about the radio frequency coil. And for the radio frequency coil,
we transmit energy. So, we have transmission coils and also receives signal, so reception
coil. So, these two can be separated, so we may have two separate radio frequency coils
for transmission and reception. Or sometimes, we may have just one single RF coil which
can be used for both transmission and reception of MR signals. So, for the transmission,
we like to have a uniform excitation profile, and also for the reception, we want to have a
higher sensitivity. So, for the transmission, we typically have a body coil, RF coil, which
has the biggest RF coil in MRI system which can be used for the transmission of MR
signal. And also and typically, reception coil can be used for the purpose for the imaging
region. And then, we have a small RF coil that is closer to the region of interest. But
sometimes, we can use for small RF coil for both transmission and reception too.
Slide 19
• Let's talk about the transmission part in detail. The proton spins may have a different
precession frequency. And proton spins that have the same frequency as the
frequency in the transmission coil will receive energy and get excited. And this is
called Magnetic Resonance. So, as shown in this figure, so the one with the same
frequency will get excited, and then those with a different frequency will not get
excited. So, this example explains the concept of magnetic resonance. And
transmission of homogeneous energy is important. So, the transmission is often
performed with a large RF coil, typically a body coil premounted on the scanner as I
mentioned before.
Slide 20
• And the reception part is when that transmission of RF energy is off, the MR
signals will be induced and detectable in the receiver RF coil. So, these
protons spins get excited and then, when they return back to original position,
they emit signal, so which can be considered, like this small magnet is
rotating, and this rotation of small magnet will induce current in this coil. And
this is the same procedure in detecting the signal in the MRI. So, this has high
sensitivity to the object is important. So, the reception of MR is often
performed with a small RF coil close to the object.
Slide 21 and question 4:
• Quesiton 4:
• Which statement describes functions of RF coils correctly?
• Receiving signals from protons
• Inducing magnetic resonance of protons
• Transmitting the energy to protons
• All above
• Correct

• Slide 21:
• This is the imaging part.
Slide 22
• So, the imaging part is about gradient coils, which provide spatial information.
So, in contrast to other imaging modalities, like CT, x-ray, SPECT, and PET,
ultrasound for optical imaging. So, positional information over detector is not
used to get spatial information in MRI. So in case of MRI, the detectors are RF
coils. And then, these are not useful to get the spatial information for MRI.
And then, how can we get the spatial information in MRI and that is about the
gradient coils. So, these gradient coils provide additional magnetic field, which
is just modulate magnetic field spatially and then, that provides additional
information, and rather than just location of detectors.
Slide 23
• So, these are the gradient coils for spatial information. So, we have three different
gradient coils along three different directions x, y, and z direction. So, these gradient
coils generate, modulate magnetic field along x, or y, or z direction. So, the main
magnetic fields are along the z direction or range. And the x and y gradient coils are
to modulate the main magnetic field strength along x and y, but not to generate any
fields along x and/or y. So, to this x gradient coil, y gradient coil does not generate
the field along x or y direction, but they just modulate strengths of main magnetic
field which is always along z direction. So, that strength is different as a function of x,
or a function of y, or a function of z. So, that's what gradient coils do for encoding
the spatial information in MRI.
Slide 24
• So, magnetic field induced by a gradient coil is a superimposed on the field of
the main MRI magnetic field. And then, so it provides a varying magnetic field
or gradient. So, they cause precession frequency omega, to be a function of
spatial location. So, B field is functional spatial location. So, that means
precession frequency is also a function of spatial location. And spatially,
different precession frequencies enable us to get spatial information i.e.,
imaging. So, as shown in this diagram. So, there is main magnetic field. And
then, when there only exist gradient, when current is applied through a
gradient coil, and gradient's magnetic field strength is added to this main
magnetic field. And then, some portion may have higher magnetic field
strength than the origin, than the other location and some of them maybe
even lower than the origin location. So, this is what gradient coils do to get the
spatial information.
Question 5:
• Which component is to get spatial information in MRI?
• Main magnet
• Reception RF coil
• Gradient coil
• Transmission RF coil
• Correct
• Gradient coils are to modulate the magnetic field in a spatially-different manner to
spatially-encode the MR signals.
slide 25
• Let's talk about MRI safety briefly and then summarize the contents of the
three. So, is MRI safe? Yes, it is safe and it does not cause any ionizing
radiation. But, people with pacemakers or artificial limbs or devices that
contain metal are not allowed for MRI imaging. And I, myself have been
volunteered for being scanned in MRI and for about 20 years. And then, it has
no, so far though, I had no problem with MRI scans. And another issue is a
specific absorption rate. So, it's a measure of the rate at which energy is
absorbed by the human body when exposed to radio frequency
electromagnetic field. So, this means the RF coil may generate heat in our
body if the energy is too high, but that can be represented in a unit of watts
per kilogram. There is an upper limit of SAR for safety, and most clinical
scanners do not allow any scan that exceeds the SAR limit. So, MRI is safe. So,
it's already protected in the clinical scanner. So, you don't need to worry
about the MRI scan.
summary
• Here is the summary of the contents of this week. So, MRI is noninvasive, biomedical imaging
device, with a relatively high spatial resolution, and it provides various soft tissue contrast. And
it's an integration of many different imaging modalities in single scanner. That's beauty of MRI.
And typically, clinical MRI had a field strength up to three Tesla, which is 60,000 times greater
than the earth's magnetic field. And the magnet generates magnetic fields that causes protons to
precess at a frequency proportional to the strength of the magnetic field which is called
resonance frequency. A radio frequency coil transmits and receive and/or receives signal at the
resonance frequency. And gradient coils modulate the resonance frequency depending on the
spatial location along x, y, and z direction. So, these three hardware, main magnet, and RF coils
and gradient coil. So, these are the three main hardware component of MRI. And MRI is safe and
does not cause ionizing radiation but requires caution about the metal object in the body and also
specific absorption rate. This is the end of the lecture in the week.