ABSTRACT
Portable low-cost magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems have the potential to enable “point-of-care” and timely MRI diagnosis, and to make this imaging modality available to routine scans and to people in underdeveloped countries and areas. With simplicity, no maintenance, no power consumption, and low cost, permanent magnets/magnet arrays/magnet assemblies are attractive to be used as a source of static magnetic field to realize the portability and to lower the cost for an MRI scanner. However, when taking the canonical Fourier imaging approach and using linear gradient fields, homogeneous fields are required in a scanner, resulting in the facts that either a bulky magnet/magnet array is needed, or the imaging volume is too small to image an organ if the magnet/magnet array is scaled down to a portable size. Recently, with the progress on image reconstruction based on non-linear gradient field, static field patterns without spatial linearity can be used as spatial encoding magnetic fields (SEMs) to encode MRI signals for imaging. As a result, the requirements for the homogeneity of the static field can be relaxed, which allows permanent magnets/magnet arrays with reduced sizes, reduced weight to image a bigger volume covering organs such as a head. It offers opportunities of constructing a truly portable low-cost MRI scanner. For this exciting potential application, permanent magnets/magnet arrays have attracted increased attention recently. A magnet/magnet array is strongly associated with the imaging volume of an MRI scanner, image reconstruction methods, and RF excitation and RF coils, etc. through field patterns and field homogeneity. This paper offers a review of permanent magnets and magnet arrays of different kinds, especially those that can be used for spatial encoding towards the development of a portable and low-cost MRI system. It is aimed to familiarize the readers with relevant knowledge, literature, and the latest updates of the development on permanent magnets and magnet arrays for MRI. Perspectives on and challenges of using a permanent magnet/magnet array to supply a patterned static magnetic field, which does not have spatial linearity nor high field homogeneity, for image reconstruction in a portable setup are discussed.
Subject(s)
Diagnosis , Head , Image Processing, Computer-Assisted , Magnetic Fields , Magnetic Resonance ImagingABSTRACT
Se efectuó un estudio longitudinal y controlado de 100 pacientes con osteoartrosis generalizada, atendidos en el Servicio de Medicina Natural y Tradicional del Hospital Provincial Docente Clinicoquirúrgico "Saturnino Lora Torres" de Santiago de Cuba, desde enero hasta diciembre del 2010, a fin de evaluar la eficacia de los imanes permanentes multipolares en el tratamiento del dolor crónico en los afectados. Estos imanes se ubicaron y fijaron en diferentes puntos de acupunturas para aliviar la dolencia. Los niveles de dolor se cuantificaron mediante la Escala Visual Análoga, por sexo y rango de edades; se evaluaron a los 0, 30, 60 y 90 días durante la terapia. Se demostró la factibilidad del uso de los imanes permanentes multipolares en el alivio del dolor de los pacientes con osteoartrosis generalizada por ser simples, seguros, eficaces y no inducir efectos adversos en el organismo.
A longitudinal and controlled study of 100 patients with generalized osteoarthrosis, assisted in the Service of Natural and Traditional Medicine of "Saturnino Lora Torres" Clinical Surgical Teaching Provincial Hospital in Santiago de Cuba was carried out from January to December, 2010, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the multipolar permanent magnets in the treatment of the chronic pain in those affected. These magnets were placed and fixed in different acupuncture points to reduce pain. The pain levels were quantified by means of the Analogue Visual Scale, by sex and age range; they were evaluated at the 0, 30, 60 and 90 days during the therapy. The feasibility of the use of the multipolar permanent magnets was demonstrated in the relief of pain of the patients with generalized osteoarthrosis as they are simple, sure, effective and induce no adverse effects in the organism.
ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the magnetic properties of permanent magnet wafers commonly used in magnetotherapy to provide a basis for the scientific and rational use of sources of magnetism.Methods A magnetometer was used to measure the magnetic induction intensities of the N and S polar centers of eight groups of magnet wafers (axial magnetization) with nominal magnetic induction intensities of 6 mT, 10 mT, 20 mT, 30 mT, 60 mT,100 mT, 200 mT and 350 mT.Results There were some differences between the nominal values and the measured mean magnetic induction intensities. In a few groups the differences were close to 20％. There were also differences within the same group. The magnetic induction intensities of the two polar surfaces were not always equal for the same magnet, and there were large differences among individual magnets.Conclusions The intensities of magnetic sources must be measured before use to ensure the consistency of magnetic induction intensities in therapeutic applications.