BME 595 - Medical Imaging Applications

Part 2: INTRODUCTION TO MRI

Lecture 1
Fundamentals of Magnetic Resonance
Feb. 16, 2005
James D. Christensen, Ph.D.
IU School of Medicine
Department of Radiology
Research II building, E002C
jadchris@iupui.edu
317-274-3815

References
Books covering basics of MR physics:
E. Mark Haacke, et al 1999 Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Physical Principles and
Sequence Design.
C.P. Slichter 1978 (1992) Principles of Magnetic Resonance.
A. Abragam 1961 (1994) Principles of Nuclear Magnetism.

References
Online resources for introductory review of MR physics:
Robert Coxs book chapters online
http://afni.nimh.nih.gov/afni/edu/
See Background Information on MRI section
Mark Cohens intro Basic MR Physics slides
http://porkpie.loni.ucla.edu/BMD_HTML/SharedCode/MiscShared.html
Douglas Nolls Primer on MRI and Functional MRI
http://www.bme.umich.edu/~dnoll/primer2.pdf
Joseph Hornaks Web Tutorial, The Basics of MRI
http://www.cis.rit.edu/htbooks/mri/mri-main.htm

Timeline of MR Imaging
1972 Damadian
patents idea for large
NMR scanner to
detect malignant
tissue.

1924 - Pauli suggests

that nuclear particles
may have angular
momentum (spin).

1920

1973 Lauterbur
publishes method for
generating images
using NMR gradients.

1937 Rabi measures

magnetic moment of
nucleus. Coins
magnetic resonance.

1930

1940

1985 Insurance
reimbursements for
MRI exams begin.
MRI scanners
become clinically
prevalent.

NMR renamed MRI

1950

1946 Purcell shows

that matter absorbs
energy at a resonant
frequency.

1960
1959 Singer
measures blood flow
using NMR (in mice).

1946 Bloch demonstrates

that nuclear precession can be
measured in detector coils.

1970

1980

1973 Mansfield
independently
publishes gradient
approach to MR.
1975 Ernst
develops 2D-Fourier
transform for MR.

1990

2000

1990 Ogawa and

colleagues create
functional images using
endogenous, bloodoxygenation contrast.

Nobel Prizes for Magnetic Resonance

1944: Rabi
Physics (Measured magnetic moment of nucleus)

1952: Felix Bloch and Edward Mills Purcell

Physics (Basic science of NMR phenomenon)

1991: Richard Ernst

Chemistry (High-resolution pulsed FT-NMR)

2002: Kurt Wthrich

Chemistry (3D molecular structure in solution by NMR)

2003: Paul Lauterbur & Peter Mansfield

Physiology or Medicine (MRI technology)

Magnetic Resonance Techniques

Nuclear Spin Phenomenon:
NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance)
MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
EPI (Echo-Planar Imaging)
fMRI (Functional MRI)
MRS (Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy)
MRSI (MR Spectroscopic Imaging)
Electron Spin Phenomenon (not covered in this course):
ESR (Electron Spin Resonance)
or EPR (Electron Paramagnetic Resonance)
ELDOR (Electron-electron double resonance)
ENDOR (Electron-nuclear double resonance)

Equipment
4T magnet

RF Coil

B0

gradient coil
(inside)

Magnet

Gradient Coil

RF Coil

Main Components of a Scanner

Static Magnetic Field Coils

Gradient Magnetic Field Coils
Magnetic shim coils
Radiofrequency Coil
Subsystem control computer

Data transfer and storage computers

Physiological monitoring, stimulus display, and
behavioral recording hardware

Shimmingrf

rf gradient
coil

coil
main
magnet

main
magnet

Transmit

Receive

Control
Computer

Main Magnet Field Bo

Purpose is to align H protons in H2O (little magnets)

[Main magnet and some of its lines of force]

[Little magnets lining up with external lines of force]

Common nuclei with NMR properties

Criteria:
Must have ODD number of protons or ODD number of neutrons.
Reason?
It is impossible to arrange these nuclei so that a zero net angular
momentum is achieved. Thus, these nuclei will display a magnetic
moment and angular momentum necessary for NMR.
Examples:
1
H, 13C, 19F, 23N, and 31P with gyromagnetic ratio of 42.58, 10.71,
40.08, 11.27 and 17.25 MHz/T.
Since hydrogen protons are the most abundant in human body, we use
1
H MRI most of the time.

Angular Momentum
J = m=mvr

J
m

magnetic moment = J
where is the gyromagnetic ratio,
and it is a constant for a given nucleus

A Single Proton
There is electric charge
on the surface of the
proton, thus creating a
small current loop and
generating magnetic
moment .

The proton also

has mass which
generates an
angular
momentum
J when it is
spinning.

Thus proton magnet differs from a magnetic bar in that it

also possesses angular momentum caused by spinning.

Protons in a Magnetic Field

Bo
Parallel
(low energy)
Anti-Parallel
(high energy)
Spinning protons in a magnetic field will assume two states.
If the temperature is 0o K, all spins will occupy the lower energy state.

Protons align with field

Outside magnetic field
randomly oriented

spins tend to align parallel or anti-parallel

to B0
net magnetization (M) along B0
spins precess with random phase
no net magnetization in transverse plane
only 0.0003% of protons/T align with field
longitudinal
axis

Inside magnetic field

Mz
M

Mxy = 0

transverse
plane

Longitudinal
magnetization

Transverse
magnetization

Net Magnetization

Bo

Bo
M c
T

The Boltzman equation describes the population ratio of the two energy states:

N-/N+ = e E/kT
Larger B0 produces larger net magnetization M, lined up with B0
Thermal motions try to randomize alignment of proton magnets
At room temperature, the population ratio is roughly 100,000 to 100,006 per Tesla
of B0

Energy Difference Between States

Energy Difference Between States

Eh
E = 2 z Bo
/2
known as Larmor frequency
/2= 42.57 MHz / Tesla for proton
Knowing the energy difference allows us to use
electromagnetic waves with appropriate energy
level to irradiate the spin system so that some spins
at lower energy level can absorb right amount of
energy to flip to higher energy level.

Basic Quantum Mechanics Theory of MR

Spin System Before Irradiation

Bo
Lower Energy
Higher Energy

Basic Quantum Mechanics Theory of MR

The Effect of Irradiation to the Spin

System
Lower
Higher

Basic Quantum Mechanics Theory of MR

Spin System After Irradiation

Precession Quantum Mechanics

Precession of the quantum expectation value of the magnetic moment

operator in the presence of a constant external field applied along the Z axis.
The uncertainty principle says that both energy and time (phase) or
momentum (angular) and position (orientation) cannot be known with
precision simultaneously.

Precession Classical
= Bo torque
=
= dJ / dt
J = /
d/dt = ( Bo)
(t) = (xocos Bot + yosin Bot) x + (yocos Bot - xosin Bot) y + zoz

A Mechanical Analogy of Precession

A gyroscope in the Earths gravitational field is like

magnetization in an externally applied magnetic field

Equation of Motion: Block equation

T1 and T2 are time constants describing

relaxation processes caused by interaction with
the local environment

RF Excitation:

On-resonance

Off-resonance

RF Excitation
Excite Radio Frequency (RF) field
transmission coil: apply magnetic field along B1
(perpendicular to B0)
oscillating field at Larmor frequency
frequencies in RF range
B1 is small: ~1/10,000 T
tips M to transverse plane spirals down
analogy: childrens swingset
final angle between B0 and B1 is the flip angle

Transverse
magnetization

B0

B1

Signal Detection via RF coil

Signal Detection

Signal is damped due to relaxation

Relaxation via magnetic field

interactions with the local environment

Spin-Lattice (T1) relaxation via

molecular motion

Effect of temperature

Effect of viscosity

T1 Relaxation efficiency as function

of freq is inversely related to the
density of states

Spin-Lattice (T1) relaxation

Spin-Spin (T2) Relaxation via Dephasing

Relaxation

Relaxation

T2 Relaxation

Efffective T2 relaxation rate:

1/T2 = 1/T2 + 1/T2*
Total = dynamic + static

Spin-Echo Pulse Sequence

Spin-Echo Pulse Sequence

Multiple Spin-Echo

HOMEWORK Assignment #1
1) Why does 14N have a magnetic moment, even though its nucleus contains an even number of particles?
2) At 37 deg C in a 3.0 Tesla static magnetic field, what percentage of proton spins are aligned with the field?
3) Derive the spin-lattice (T1) time constant for the magnetization plotted below having boundary conditions:
Mz=M0 at t=0 following a 180 degree pulse; M=0 at t=2.0 sec.