Event
Special Bioengineering Seminar: Chunqi Qian
Monday, January 27, 2014
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Pepco Room (1105), Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building
Professor Ian White
ianwhite@umd.edu
New Messages from Radio Frequency: Medical Imaging from an Engineering Perspective
Chunqi Qian
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
National Institutes of Health
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a powerful and versatile technique for diseases diagnosis and preclinical research. The applicability of MRI, however, is often limited by its detection sensitivity, which determines the achievable spatial resolution. With the advent of higher magnetic fields, array detectors, faster imaging sequences and hyperpolarization schemes, the detection sensitivity of MRI has increased steadily over the four decades of its existence. Here, I will introduce a complementary method that can further improve the detection sensitivity. This method benefits from the well-known fact that a miniaturized detector has better local sensitivity when it is placed in vicinity to the detection object. But unlike the traditional micro-coils that need wired connections, the wireless amplified detector can maintain the superior local sensitivity by amplifying signals in situ before wirelessly coupling them to the external receiver. The detector has an integrated amplifier that doesn't require an internal power source, because the weak MR signal can exchange energy with the strong pumping signal that is provided wirelessly. After going through the operation principles, I will demonstrate the detection capabilities of Wireless Amplified NMR Detectors (WAND) with high resolution kidney images obtained on animal models. Such high resolution capability has enabled the in vivo observation of kidney functions at near histological level. After the enumeration of multiple clinically oriented applications, I will conclude the presentation by an overview on the future development of the wireless amplifier technology.
