Patent Description:
Gradient coils are usually built of loops of wire or thin conductive sheets which are provided on a cylindrical shell lying just inside the bore of an MRI system. When an electrical current is passed through these coils a secondary magnetic field is created. This secondary magnetic field constitutes a gradient field which superimposes the main magnetic field, thereby causing the resonance frequency of protons to vary as a function of position. In this way, spatial encoding of the magnetic resonance signals becomes possible. Further, gradient coils are also used for different physiologic techniques, such as magnetic resonance angiography, diffusion, and perfusion imaging.

In the past, gradient coils for MRI system often were comprised of individual wires wrapped on cylinders made of fiberglass and coated with epoxy resin. While for some applications such gradient coils are still in use, present MRI system usually comprises distributed windings in a fingerprint pattern consisting of multiple thin metallic strips or large copper sheets etched into complex patterns and applied to the cylinder.

The walls along the inner bore of an MRI system usually become warm when an examination object is examined. This heating is mainly caused by eddy currents and resistive heating as current is passed through the gradient coil. Such gradient coils are typically driven by powerful pulse-width modulated amplifiers with peak coil driving voltages up to <NUM> V and currents exceeding <NUM> A. Thus, intense heat is created with maximum internal coil temperatures reaching <NUM> to <NUM>. The power required for operating a gradient coil scales with the fifth power of its radius which means that gradient coil design and cooling of gradient coils is even more difficult for modem wide-bore systems.

In this situation, for all gradient coils in MRI systems usually fluidic cooling is used in order to reduce the heating effects. Typically, water or a water-ethylene glycol solution from a heat exchange pump is used as a cooling fluid which is circulated through cooling tubes of a cooling arrangement of the MRI system, the cooling tubes being in thermally conducting contact with the gradient coil.

In addition to the heating of the gradient coils themselves, heat also originates from eddy current heating of the radiofrequency shield (RF shield) of the MRI system. The RF shield typically is the closest metallic structure to the examination object and is usually comprised of a grid located superficial to the RF coil and immediately beneath the inner resin wall of the bore of the MRI system.

When a fluctuant large current is supplied to the closely spaced gradient coil windings, inhomogeneous temperature fields and hot spots are introduced by Ohmic heating and low thermal conductivity of the resin material. Conventional methods to dissipate the heat and reduce the hot spots in the gradient coil at component bench level can be achieved by modifying the design of the gradient coil windings and/or by using alumina-ceramic materials with better thermal conductivity properties for the cylinders on which the gradient coils are provided.

Further, the thermal conductivity of the resin material of the gradient coil assembly can be improved as described in <CIT>. According to this document, a cooling device for disposal between two flat coils of a gradient coil has at least one first and at least one second foil that are connected to each other in areas such that continuous cooling channels for a cooling fluid are formed. The cooling channels are branched, whereby a cooling effect is produced with a small thickness of the cooling device.

Moreover, in <CIT> an improved cooling circuit is described in order to address this issue. This document describes a method for manufacturing a cooling device for a gradient coil, the cooling device having at least one flexible cooling tube arranged on a carrier plate configured in accordance with a predetermined pattern, the at least one cooling tube originally having a circular cross section, is laid in accordance with the predetermined pattern and is flattened to permanently deform its cross section.

<CIT> discloses an MRI apparatus includes a static magnetic-field magnet that generates a static magnetic field in an imaging area in which a subject is to be placed. A RF coild side cooling system including a plurality of cooling pipes that circulates a coolant in pipe is provided on the inner side of the main coil. However, in these ways, disturbing hot spots and the effect of an inhomogenous temperature field cannot be reduced in a sufficiently efficient manner yet.

<CIT> discloses to incorporate a on-magnetic, thermally conducting spreader substrate between the gradient coils and the serpentine cooling tube to reduce localized hot spots in electrical components to provide lower temperatures and more even temperature distributions in coils. However, incorporation of the spreader substrate will increase the thickness of the gradient coil assembly and thus reduce the bore size of MRI system, let alone complicating the manufacturing of the gradient coil assembly and increasing the cost accordingly.

<CIT> describes a coil assembly and a magnetic resonance imaging system employing same are disclosed. The coil assembly includes a main gradient coil assembly having a first section positioned at a first end of the MRI system distal to a patient support system and a second section positioned at a second end of the MRI system proximate to the patient support system. A first RF shield is disposed around at least a portion of the first section of the main gradient coil assembly. A second RF shield is disposed around at least a portion of the second section of the main gradient coil assembly. An aperture extends between the first section and the second section of the main gradient coil assembly and a conduit extends across the aperture. The conduit includes a first end coupled to the first RF shield and a second end coupled to the second RF shield. A hydraulic or electrical connection is disposed within and extends through the conduit. The conduit may also be an antenna element.

<CIT> describes a direct cooled magnet coil, in particular a gradient coil for magnetic resonance devices comprises a plurality of segmented conductors enclosing a cooling pipe. The cooling pipe is made of a material that is not or is only slightly conductive electrically, in particular a flexible plastics material. The segments may be in the form of rectangular rods with channels which are semicircular in cross section and which enclose the cooling pipe in a locking manner. The cooling pipe may have longitudinal webs and hooks for supporting the segments.

<CIT> describes a arrangement for cooling a gradient coil has cooling tubes for coolant transport arranged for heat dissipation from coil positions of the gradient coil. Insulator plates for electrical insulation are arranged both between the coil positions and between the coil positions and the respective cooling tubes. The insulator plates include fabric layers (prepregs) that are impregnated with a reaction resin. The insulator plates exhibit a heat conductivity of greater than or equal to <NUM> W/mK.

<CIT> describes a gradient coil system for a magnetic resonance apparatus has gradient coils and at least one cooling tube for cooling the gradient coils using a coolant flowing through the cooling tube. The cooling tube is formed of a flexible thermoplastic material, augmented with a filler, and has a thermal conductivity greater than <NUM> W/mK.

It is an object of the invention to provide a gradient coil assembly for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus with improvoed thermal management.

This object is addressed by the subject matter of claim <NUM>. Preferred embodiments are described in the sub claims.

Therefore, the invention proposes to improve the thermal management by providing a plurality of first thermal connectors. According to the invention, it is aimed to cooling the RF shield by building a thermal bridge by the first thermal connector between the cooling arrangement and the RF shield. The invention allows for building a heat bridge in radial direction around the hottest layer considering insulation. According to an additional aspect, depending on the coil pattern of the gradient coil, the temperature of a wire populated area of the gradient coil will be higher than in other places of the gradient coil. Thus, building a heat bridge by the second thermal connector in a circumferential direction around the hotspots should help achieving a better homogeneity of the temperature distribution. By affixing the heat bridge to the cooling tube directly, which are preferably bonded or welded or glued across the cooling tubes, the heat bridge is substantionally positioned in the plane for arranging the cooling tubes, and therefore the thickness of the gradient is not increased. Due to the compact thermal arrangement, the homogeneity of the temperature field is improved and the hot spots are reduced without increasing the bore size of the MRI system.

Additionally, the cooling design can be used at least in two different ways. When a gradient coil according to certain specifications has already been manufactured and hotspots are found during usage, thermal connectors can be arranged according to identified hotspots of the gradient coil in order to improve its performance. Alternatively or additionally, possible hotspots can also be identified by simulation during the design stage of the gradient coil, and thermal connectors can be placed on hotspots identified by simulation in order to improve the cooling. As acknowledged by the skilled in the art, the cooling arrangement can be applied with no or few modification to conventional manufacturing process of gradient coil assemblies.

In general, according to the invention, the first thermal connector can be designed and arranged in different ways. According to an embodiment of the invention, the thermal connector arrangement comprises at least two first thermal connectors which are radially disposed outside the gradient coil at its two longitudinal ends thereby thermally connecting the RF shield with the cooling tube. Accordingly, in this design the two first thermal connectors do not go through the gradient coil. In this regard, the gradient coil and the RF shield are preferably embedded in a resin material, preferably an epoxy material, wherein for the two first thermal connectors free space of the resin material at boths ends, and outside the gradient coil, is used. In this way, further cooling can be achieved in an efficient way.

The second thermal connector can be designed and arranged in different ways. However, the second thermal connector between cooling tubes and/or different windings of a certain cooling tube comprises at least one cut-out in a longitudinal direction of the second thermal connector thereby forming a cooling fin extending away from the spot of the cooling tube in contact with the second thermal connector. Therfore, according to this design, instead of conducting heat from one part of the assembly to another part of the assembly, the thermal connectors helps to emitt heat to the surroundings of the assembly and, thus, acts as a cooling fin by increasing the size of a cooling area.

Further, the second theremal connector comprises a plurality of longuitudianal thermal parts disposed on the at least one cooling tube and a plurality of horizontal thermal parts thermally connecting the longuitudinal thermal parts to each other. This may be a further measure in order to increase heat dissipation in order to improve the cooling of the assembly. In this regard, it is especially preferred that the second thermal connectors between cooling tubes and/or windings of the cooling tubes have a planar extension in the plane for disposing the at least one cooling tube.

Moreover, the second thermal connector comprises a plurality of thermal parts disposed on the at least one tube in a staggered arrangement. Further, for fixing the first thermal connector and the second thermal connector different possibilities apply. Preferebly, the first thermal connector and/or the second thermal connector are bonded and/or welded and/or glued onto the cooling tube. This measure allows efficient cooling while being easy to manufacture. In this respect, it is especially preferred that the first thermal connector and/or the second thermal connector is welded on a metal ring wrapping around the at least one cooling tube.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the first thermal connectors are made from metal. More preferably, the first thermal connectors are made from a flexible thermal conductor material. Preferably, the first thermal connectors comprise a copper strap. A copper strap does not consitute a closed loop and usually will not generate induction heat.

Alternatively, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the first thermal connectors are made from a thermally conductive ceramic material. This design has the advantage that due to the lack of metal components no influence on the gradient uniformity should be expected.

In general, the connections of the first thermal connector with the cooling tube can be designed in different ways. However, accoding to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the part of the first thermal connector which is fixed to the cooling tube covers the cooling tube circumferentially. In this way, a large contact area is achieved which further helps to dissipate the heat.

In addition the invention also relates to a magnetic resonance imaging system with an assembly as described above.

Such an embodiment does not necessarily represent the full scope of the invention, however, and reference is made therefore to the claims and herein for interpreting the scope of the invention.

In <FIG> a schematic longitudinal sectional view of an MRI system <NUM> according to an embodiment of the invention is depicted. This MRI system <NUM> comprises an assembly <NUM> with a gradient coil <NUM>, a cooling arangement <NUM> for cooling the gradient coil <NUM>, and an RF shield <NUM>. The cooling arangement <NUM> comprises cooling tubes <NUM> in which a cooling fluid <NUM> like water flows and which are in thermal contact with the gradient coils <NUM>. The gradient coils <NUM> and the cooling arangement <NUM> are embedded in a resin material <NUM>.

This MRI system further comprises a magnet <NUM>, an RF transmit coil <NUM>, an RF receive coil <NUM> and a cooling gap <NUM> for allowing cooling air to reach the area between the RF transmit coil 15and the RF shield <NUM>. An examination object <NUM>, e.g. a patient, can be positionted on an patient support <NUM>. With this patient support <NUM> the examinantion object <NUM> can be disposed in an examination area <NUM> in the MRI system <NUM> which is surrounded by the magnet <NUM>, the cooled gradient coil <NUM>, the RF shield <NUM>, the RF transmit coil <NUM> and the RF receive coil <NUM> for MRI examination.

According to this preferred embodiment of the invention two first thermal connectors <NUM> are disposed between the RF shield <NUM> and the at least one cooling tube <NUM> and in thermal contact with the RF shield <NUM> and the at least one cooling tube <NUM>,thereby thermally connect the RF shield <NUM> with this cooling tube <NUM>. The first thermal connectors <NUM> are radially disposed outside the gradient coil <NUM> at its two longitudinal ends thereby thermally connecting the RF shield <NUM> with one of the cooling tubes <NUM>. Thus, the two first thermal connectors <NUM> do not go through the gradient coil <NUM>. In this way, further cooling can be achieved in an efficient way.

From <FIG>, a schematic cross sectional front view of another assembly <NUM> in accordance with another embodiment of the invention can be seen. <FIG> shows a gradient coil <NUM> that comprises three coil winding layers which are embedded into a resin material <NUM> together with a cooling arrangement <NUM>. This cooling arrangement <NUM> is comprised of second thermal connectors <NUM> which are fixed to different cooling tubes <NUM> thereby connecting the different cooling tubes <NUM> with each other in a thermally conducting manner. According to an embodiment of the invention it is also possible that second thermal connectors <NUM> are fixed to different windings of one cooling tube <NUM> connecting these different windings of the cooling tube <NUM> in a thermally conducting manner. It should be noted that both possibilities can also be combined in one single embodiment.

Further, in addition to the second thermal connectors <NUM>, according to the the invention and the preferred embodiment shown in <FIG>, first thermal connectors <NUM> are provided which connect the cooling tubes <NUM> with the RF shield <NUM> in a thermally connecting manner. In this respect, the embodiment of <FIG> relates to the embodiment shown in <FIG>. As already stated above, the first thermal connectors <NUM> do not go through the gradient coil <NUM>. Instead, the first thermal connectors <NUM> are disposed at the longitudinal ends of the gradient coil <NUM> outside of the gradient coil <NUM>.

<FIG> show perspective views of cooling tubes with second thermal connectors <NUM> according to different embodiments. As can be seen from <FIG>, the second thermal connectors <NUM> between the different cooling tubes <NUM> have a planar extension in the plane for disposing the cooling tubes <NUM>. While according to the arrangement of <FIG> the second thermal connectors <NUM> connect the different cooling tubes <NUM> in order to allow heat transfer between the cooling tubes <NUM>, in the arrangement of <FIG> the second thermal connectors <NUM> between the different cooling tubes <NUM> comprises cut-outs <NUM> in a longitudinal direction of the second thermal connector <NUM> thereby forming a cooling fins. In this way, heat which is transferred from the cooling tubes <NUM> into the second thermal connectors <NUM> can be dissipated into the surroundings of the gradient coil <NUM>.

Further, the arrangement of <FIG> resembles the arrangement of <FIG> while the second thermal connectors <NUM> between the different cooling tubes <NUM> are connected with each other. This enhances efficient heat transfer and, thus, allows for a homogenous temperature distribution. Instead of multiple second thermal connectors <NUM> which are connected with each other, according to the preferred embodiment of <FIG>, a single second thermal connector <NUM> can be provided which covers a larger area and, thus, also allows for an efficient heat transfer, thereby providing effective cooling of the gradient coil <NUM>.

If a plurality of second thermal connectors <NUM> is provided at least a part of the thermal connectors <NUM> between different cooling tubes <NUM> may be disposed in a staggered arrangement. Such a embodiment is shown in <FIG>.

It is common to all embodiments described before, that the first thermal connectors <NUM> and/or the second thermal connectors <NUM> are preferably bonded and/or welded onto the cooling tube <NUM>. In this respect, the first thermal connectors <NUM> and/or the second thermal connectors <NUM> are preferably made from a flexible thermal conductor material. According to the embodiments shown in <FIG> copper strap is used for the first thermal connectors <NUM> and the second thermal connectors <NUM>, respectively. With such a copper strap for the first thermal connectors <NUM> and the second thermal connectors <NUM> a snug fit to the cooling tubes <NUM> can be achieved which further supports an efficient heat transfer from the cooling tubes <NUM> into the first thermal connectors <NUM> and the second thermal connectors <NUM>, respectively. However, as already mentione above, the invention is not restricted to metal as a material for the first thermal connectors <NUM> and the second thermal connectors <NUM>. Alternatively, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the first thermal connectors <NUM> and/or the second thermal connectors <NUM> are made from any material whose thermal conductive is higher than Epoxy, e.g., a thermally conductive ceramic material.

From <FIG> it can be gathered that according to another embodiment cooling tubes <NUM> are looped with a second thermal connector <NUM>. Therefore, according to this design, the part of the second thermal connector <NUM> which is fixed to the cooling tube <NUM> covers the cooling tube <NUM> circumferentially. This is preferably realized by using a flexible material for the second thermal connector <NUM>. Further, this is not only a design option for the second thermal connector <NUM> but also for the the first thermal connector <NUM>.

<FIG> shows an embodiment according to which second thermal connectors <NUM> are welded onto metal rings <NUM>. For fixing the second thermal connectors <NUM> to the cooling tubes <NUM> the metal rings <NUM> are welded or bonded to the cooling tubes <NUM>. As for the design described with reference to <FIG>, the present design can also be applied for the first thermal connectors <NUM>.

Finally, <FIG> is a representation of a metal layer shielded cooling tube <NUM> with an non-metallic insulation layer <NUM>. In order to be able to weld a first thermal connector <NUM> or a second thermal connector <NUM> onto the cooling tube <NUM>, the insulation layer <NUM> is partly peeled off for providing a welding spot <NUM> for fixing the first thermal connector <NUM> or a second thermal connector <NUM>, respectively. For this design option the first thermal connector <NUM> or a second thermal connector <NUM>, respectively, is preferably made from a metallic flexible thermal conductor like a copper strap.

Claim 1:
An assembly for a magnetic resonance imaging system, the assembly (<NUM>) comprising a gradient coil assembly with at least one gradient coil (<NUM>) and a cylindrical RF shield (<NUM>) positioned radially inside the gradient coil assembly, the assembly further comprising a cooling arrangement (<NUM>) for cooling the gradient coil (<NUM>), wherein the gradient coil comprises three coil winding layers which are embedded into a resin material together with the cooling arrangement, wherein the gradient coil assembly and each of its winding layers has a cylindrical shape,
wherein the cooling arrangement (<NUM>) comprises a plurality of cooling tubes (<NUM>) positioned in-between two winding layers of the gradient coil assembly, and configured to transport a cooling fluid (<NUM>),
characterised in that the assembly further comprises a thermal connector arrangement, wherein
a first thermal connector (<NUM>) is provided between each cooling tube and the RF shield, each first thermal connector thereby providing a radially extending thermal bridge by the thermal connection from the respective cooling tube (<NUM>) to the RF shield (<NUM>).