Theory and development of biplanar active shim coils for a permanent NMR analyzer

PLoS One. 2017 Jul 24;12(7):e0181552. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181552. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

The general expression for magnetic induction in the z axis direction is derived from magnetic scalar potential, and magnetic induction for biplanar shimming coils (BSCs) is also derived from magnetic vector potentials and Green functions, which simultaneously include Sin and Cos harmonic fields. The relationship between these expressions is discussed, and we show they are partially consistent. Magnetic induction generated Sin and Cos stream functions, which are presented and discussed, and we conclude that the type of stream function determines the type of harmonic field, and that BSCs can not only generate specific harmonic fields directly using Cos stream function, but also generate the rest of the harmonic fields through some specific operations. The detailed design process is presented in the form of a diagram. Subsequently, nine BSCs were calculated using the proposed method and applied to a low field NMR relaxation analyzer. The magnetic field homogeneity after shimming increases significantly, which verifies its practical value.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms*
  • Equipment Design
  • Magnetic Fields*
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / instrumentation*
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / methods

Grants and funding

Support for this program was provided by the National Science and Technology Major Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant 2013YQ170463). The URL of funder’s website is http://www.most.gov.cn/tztg/201309/t20130904_109149.htm. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.