| Patent Number |
Title Of Patent |
Date Issued |
| 7615998 |
Method and apparatus for actively controlling quench protection of a superconducting magnet |
November 10, 2009 |
| A method and apparatus for actively controlling quench protection of a superconducting magnet includes a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system and a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program comprising instructions which when executed by a computer cause |
| 7518370 |
Low eddy current vacuum vessel and method of making same |
April 14, 2009 |
| A vacuum vessel assembly includes an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder formed of a material in which eddy currents are substantially not produced. The inner cylinder includes a first and second half having an annular flange thereon. A plurality of metal interfaces are connected to |
| 7498814 |
Magnet assembly for magnetic resonance imaging system |
March 3, 2009 |
| A magnet assembly for a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system includes a vacuum vessel including an inner cylinder, an outer cylinder and a pair of tapered flanges connecting the inner and outer cylinders. The inner cylinder is made of a composite material. The outer cylinder and flang |
| 7477055 |
Apparatus and method for coupling coils in a superconducting magnet |
January 13, 2009 |
| A system and method for connecting superconducting magnet coils made up of coil segments to allow an integrated winding concept. The integrated winding concept can include serially connecting coil segments of coil pairs in an alternating pattern, which causes coil pairs to be electri |
| 7464558 |
Low eddy current cryogen circuit for superconducting magnets |
December 16, 2008 |
| A low eddy current cryogen circuit for superconducting magnets including at least a first cooling coil made of an electrically conducting material and having at least one electrical isolator incorporated in the first cooling coil. The electrical isolator is located to inhibit induced edd |
| 7449889 |
Heat pipe cooled superconducting magnets with ceramic coil forms |
November 11, 2008 |
| A system and method for a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging system includes a coil form, at least one magnet positioned about the coil form and configured to generate a magnetic field, at least one gradient coil for manipulating the magnetic field generated by the at least one magnet by |
| 7423431 |
Multiple ring polefaceless permanent magnet and method of making |
September 9, 2008 |
| A permanent magnet assembly for an imaging apparatus having a permanent magnet body having a first surface and a stepped second surface which is adapted to face an imaging volume of the imaging apparatus, wherein the stepped second surface contains at least four steps. |
| 7372273 |
High temperature superconducting current leads for superconducting magnets |
May 13, 2008 |
| An electrical current lead assembly for ramping a superconducting magnet includes a vacuum vessel wall that has a first side exposed to an atmospheric pressure and a second side exposed to a vacuum pressure. A pool wall extends from the first side of the vacuum vessel wall and forms |
| 7352183 |
Method and apparatus for locally shielding MR superconducting magnet coil |
April 1, 2008 |
| A method and apparatus for local grading shielding includes a gradient shield loop having a plurality of arcs positioned adjacent to a superconducting magnet coil. The plurality of arcs magnetically couple with a gradient magnetic field generated by a magnetic field gradient to local |
| 7342757 |
System and method for quench protection of a superconductor |
March 11, 2008 |
| A system and method for protecting a superconductor from a quench condition. A quench protection system is provided to protect the superconductor from damage due to a quench condition. The quench protection system comprises a voltage detector operable to detect voltage across the sup |
| 7319329 |
Cold mass with discrete path substantially conductive coupler for superconducting magnet and cry |
January 15, 2008 |
| A cold mass for a superconducting magnet system in one example comprises a superconducting magnet, a cryogenic cooling circuit, and a magnet and cooling circuit support. The magnet and cooling circuit support comprises a substantially conductive coupler in a discrete path that serves to |
| 7242191 |
Cold mass support structure and helium vessel of actively shielded high field open MRI magnets |
July 10, 2007 |
| An open magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device is provided with at least one main coil for generating a magnetic field for imaging a volume, and at least one shaping coil. The at least one shaping coil is positioned relative to the at least one main coil to shape the magnetic field in t |
| 7148689 |
Permanent magnet assembly with movable permanent body for main magnetic field adjustable |
December 12, 2006 |
| A permanent magnet assembly comprising a fixed permanent magnet body and a movable permanent magnet body which is movable relative to the fixed permanent magnet body. |
| 7053740 |
Low field loss cold mass structure for superconducting magnets |
May 30, 2006 |
| A structure for superconducting magnets is provided. The structure includes a thermally conductive electrically resistive composite bobbin, a superconducting coil disposed around the thermally conductive electrically resistive composite bobbin for conducting current in a superconduct |
| 7053509 |
Quench monitoring and control system and method of operating same |
May 30, 2006 |
| A rotating machine comprising a superconductive coil and a temperature sensor operable to provide a signal representative of superconductive coil temperature. The rotating machine may comprise a control system communicatively coupled to the temperature sensor. The control system may |
| 7003977 |
Cryogenic cooling system and method with cold storage device |
February 28, 2006 |
| A cooling system for providing cryogenic cooling fluid to an apparatus comprises a re-circulation device, a passive cold storage device having a porous matrix of material which directly contacts the cryogenic cooling fluid as the cryogenic cooling fluid passes through the passive cold |
| 6995562 |
Conduction cooled passively-shielded MRI magnet |
February 7, 2006 |
| A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device for imaging a volume is provided with at least one main magnet for generating a magnetic field, and at least one gradient coil for manipulating the magnetic field generated by the at least one main magnet to image the volume. The magnetic fields |
| 6906517 |
Method and apparatus for maintaining thermal stability of permanent magnets in MRI systems |
June 14, 2005 |
| Briefly in accordance with one aspect, the present technique provides a method for heating a permanent magnet in a magnetic resonance imaging system. The method for heating a permanent magnet includes directly heating a surface of the permanent magnet using a surface heater. The pres |
| 6900714 |
System and method for quench and over-current protection of superconductor |
May 31, 2005 |
| A system and method for protecting a superconductor. The system may comprise a current sensor operable to detect a current flowing through the superconductor. The system may comprise a coolant temperature sensor operable to detect the temperature of a cryogenic coolant used to cool the |
| 6850066 |
Systems and methods for gradient compensation in magnetic resonance imaging |
February 1, 2005 |
| A gradient compensation system comprising a magnet assembly, at least one field-generating gradient coil operable for generating magnetic field gradients in three orthogonal coordinates, and at least one gradient compensation coil positioned adjacent to the magnet assembly and operable |
| 6783059 |
Conduction cooled passively-shielded MRI magnet |
August 31, 2004 |
| A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device for imaging a volume is provided with at least one main magnet for generating a magnetic field, and at least one gradient coil for manipulating the magnetic field generated by the at least one main magnet to image the volume. The magnetic fields |
| 6778054 |
Methods and apparatus for passive shimming of magnets |
August 17, 2004 |
| A method for shimming a magnetic field of a magnet in a volume of interest, utilizing ferromagnetic pellets for shimming. The pellets are positioned in a nonmagnetic holder having a predetermined number of pellet holes. The method includes measuring the magnetic field of a magnet in a pl |
| 6762517 |
High temperature super-conducting rotor having a vacuum vessel and electromagnetic shield and an |
July 13, 2004 |
| A rotor is disclosed for a super-conducting synchronous machine including: a rotor core; a super-conducting coil extending around at least a portion of the rotor core, said coil having coil side sections on opposite sides of said rotor core; a vacuum housing covering at least one of said |
| 6717781 |
Balanced quench protection circuit |
April 6, 2004 |
| A superconducting magnet electrical circuit is provided for quench protection. A superconducting coil assemblage is provided including a plurality of spatially separated main and secondary magnet coil portions. The main magnet coil portions are connected in series to form at least one |
| 6608409 |
High temperature super-conducting rotor having a vacuum vessel and electromagnetic shield and an |
August 19, 2003 |
| A rotor is disclosed for a super-conducting synchronous machine having: a rotor core; a super-conducting coil extending around at least a portion of the rotor core, the coil having coil side sections on opposite sides of the rotor core; a vacuum housing covering at least one of the coil |
| 6504461 |
Open magnet with recessed field shaping coils |
January 7, 2003 |
| A pole piece for use in an open magnet includes a magnetizable body of generally cylindrical shape and made of a ferromagnetic material with a plurality of concentrically-arranged, annular-shaped, radially spaced-apart grooves formed in the inner surface of the pole piece. A pluralit |
