A Portable CMOS-based MRI System with 67×67×83 µm3Image Resolution

Abstract

This paper presents the smallest-ever, portable CMOS-based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, comprising a fully-integrated and digitally-assisted CMOS RF transceiver IC and a permanent magnet with Bo ≈ 0.51 T with the corresponding f0for the 1H proton spins being 21.8 MHz. The system has a volume less than a shoebox, weighs less than 10kg, and provides an imaging volume of 6x6x6 mm3 with an image resolution of 67x67x83 µm3. In addition to MRI, the presented system can also perform multi-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometry and high-resolution NMR spectroscopy, combining all state-of-the-art NMR modalities in a single, portable device.