text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|Feb 9, 2010
|Filing date
|Nov 24, 2006
|Priority date
|Nov 25, 2005
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|John Thomas Vaughan, Mark A Watson, Kenneth M Bradshaw, Matthew T Waks, Joshua J Holwell
|Original Assignee
|Mr Instruments, Inc.
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (67), Non-Patent Citations (42), Referenced by (35), Classifications (8), Legal Events (4)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/739,687, filed Nov. 25, 2005, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The present invention relates to a cavity resonator coil for use in magnetic resonance Systems.
There are many previously known resonators for use in magnetic resonance (MR) systems for imaging and spectroscopy. For example, one previously known device is commonly known as a birdcage resonator. These previously known birdcage resonators typically comprise a plurality of circumferentially spaced inductive/capacitive elements connected by inductive/capacitive end ring elements, which are driven at resonance by a Larmor radio frequency useful for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) systems. The object to be analyzed is positioned within the resonator during the operation of the MR system.
One disadvantage of these previously known resonators, however, is that they typically use lumped element circuits (with discrete inductors and capacitors) to achieve resonance at the selected radio frequency. Because lumped element circuits lose more energy to radiation at high frequencies where the circuit is greater than 1/10 wavelength, the lumped element resonator is less efficient for high field MR imaging applications compared to lower field strengths. Because lumped element circuits are more radiative, they are electrically less efficient and have a lower Q factor. Similarly because conventional lumped element circuits such as the birdcage are more inductive, they resonate at lower frequencies than do the less inductive transmission line (TEM) circuits.
These previously known resonators, which use lumped element circuits, suffer from several additional disadvantages. One such disadvantage is non-uniform current distributions which result in decreased homogeneity, decreased fill factor, and increased electric field losses. Especially at higher frequencies and for larger (clinical) volumes, lumped element resonators may achieve self-resonance below the desired frequency of operation as well as increased electromagnetic radiation losses.
A distributed circuit, cavity resonator for NMR systems disclosed by Vaughan in U.S. Pat. No. 5,744,957 overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the previously known devices. Vaughan discloses a cavity resonator having coaxial inner and outer cylindrical walls separated by a dielectric region. Spaced conductive end walls extend across the inner and outer walls at each axial end of the coil so that the inner, outer, and end walls together form an approximate cavity. The inner, outer, and end walls can, for example, be coated with a thin foil conductive material, such as copper, silver, or gold. In doing so, the coil imitates a coaxial line segment made resonant at Larmor frequencies useful for MR, such as 64 MHz (1.5 T), 175 MHz (4.1 T) or 170 MHz (4 T).
The apparatus disclosed by Vaughan provides a cavity resonator coil overcoming the problems of conventional coils discussed above, providing for a substantial improvement in signal to noise ratio (SNR). The coil will also resonate and operate efficiently at higher Larmor frequencies for the higher static magnetic now available at 3T and above. Because the SNR from MR samples increases with the magnet field strength, the ability of this coil to resonate and operate efficiently at higher frequencies means that it can be used at high field strengths to obtain further SNR gains. This increase in signal to noise ratio provides a substantially improved image of the object to be analyzed within the resonator during the operation of the MR system, for example.
The resonator disclosed by Vaughan has proven effective in MR systems providing increased SNR, homogeneity, transmit efficiency, fill factor, decreased electric field losses, and higher operational frequencies. However, there are still some problems associated with both the resonator disclosed by Vaughan and the previously known lumped element resonators.
An ideal clinical head coil for example would lend itself to the easiest and most comfortable subject positioning, leave the subject's face uncovered once the subject is in position, and would include these access and comfort features without compromising coil performance, safety and reliability. It is preferable for a head coil to be both comfortable and accessible for the subject and easy to use for the technician. However, it is difficult to provide comfort and accessibility for the subject and ease of use for the technician and maintain a high coil performance. The ideal coil should have a removable top as well, to allow for comfortable subject positioning in the coil. Furthermore, some commercial systems don't provide the space for a coil that slides over a subject's head. Accordingly, several commercial coil designs already incorporate this "pop top" feature. However, these commercial coils that separate into halves are not popular with some research applications such as fMR. Apparently the electrical contacts that are broken and remade to open and close the coil each time a new subject is loaded, become unstable over time due to wear and oxidation, resulting in noise "spikes" and temporal instabilities often seen in EPI images for example. These electrical contacts are required to complete the end ring current paths in birdcages and similar coil structures. While commercial coils must meet rigorous FDA safety criteria, it could be imagined that electrical contacts in a coil might possibly pose safety risks in certain situations, especially where electrolytic bodily fluids were present.
Similarly, an ideal body coil might be as small as possible and fit close enough to the human trunk for efficient transmission to and reception from a region of interest, but allow room for subject comfort and access. The present body coils are built very large to allow for access and comfort, but as a consequence are very inefficient and are poorly coupled to the MR region of interest in a body. RF power amplifiers of 35 kW and more are required to compensate for the inefficiencies of a body coil used in a 3T magnet for example. Still, these coils provide little shoulder room for the largest human subjects.
Limb coils, especially leg coils, are similarly limited by conventional practice. A leg volume coil for example must be oversized to make room for a leg with a foot to be threaded through the cylindrical structure. Or a leg coil has a removable top to provide easier access for a closer fitting, more efficient coil. This latter coil however by conventional designs requires the problematic electrical contacts described for the head coil above.
Typical existing head only MR systems are one-piece units. A significant problem with this structure is that many medical subjects do not possess the physical ability to manipulate their heads and bodies into the positions required for the MR without significant difficultly or pain. Typically, the subject must try and navigate their head into the small diameter of the head only system. This can be painful or impossible for most medical subjects who are asked to do this while lying on their back.
Because of the inherently low SNR of the MR signal, these signals must be acquired and averaged a sufficient number of times to improve the SNR to a significant value. MR data acquisition by signal averaging is highly intolerant of motion in the MR sample or subject. Accordingly, human subjects are required to remain motionless for the duration of an MR scan, sometimes lasting 30 minutes or more. Movement will result in lower resolution images and in image "ghosting", thereby limiting the diagnostic quality of an image and often requiring a repeated imaging session. To minimize head motion for example, MR operators will often insert padding around the subject's head to provide head restraint. While this has the effect of reducing the subject's head movement, it does not eliminate all of the subject's head movement. Further, all of the padding placed around the subject's head can apply uncomfortable pressure and can intensify the subject's feelings of claustrophobia. Therefore, the purpose behind having a high performance coil with a better signal to noise ratio is defeated if the subject cannot remain still.
Another, problem associated with many MR protocols, is they can be painfully loud. Typically, subjects are given earplugs or headphones to muffle the noise (in most MR centers the subject can even bring their own cassette or CD to listen to). The acoustic noise is attributed to the electro motive forces generated by switched electrical currents in the wires of the magnet's gradient coils. Stronger magnet fields and stronger or faster gradient current switching generate greater acoustic amplitudes. While the methods mentioned above are generally effective for gradient noise reduction, coils must be built to larger and less efficient dimensions to accommodate the head restraint and hearing protection devices placed about the head.
Visual input/output is often required for a subject receiving an MR exam, for diagnostics or research. These I/O visual devices help to minimize claustrophobia, provide visual cues, and relay information from the MR operator. Visual I/O devices are typically mirrors, prisms, or active displays located above the subject's eyes. A problem with existing systems of this sort is that 1) they are often fixed in position which requires that a subject be adjusted to the device, and 2) they typically protrude above the head coil so as to preclude their use in close fitting head only MR systems, and in head gradient inserts used in whole body MR systems.
It has been shown that back planes on RF coils can function as an RF mirror to extend the uniformity of the coil's transverse RF magnetic field along the rotational or "z" axis of the coil. A back plane, also known as an end cap, can be used in a coil to make a shorter, and therefore more ergonomic, better shielded, and more electrically efficient coil for a desired field of view. Conventional cylindrical birdcage head coil, as mentioned above, typically do not have a back plane. The lack of a back plane together with the inherently shorter axial field of a birdcage require the birdcage head coil to be longer typically covering the subject's mouth and chin. This increased length of the birdcage has many problems. It creates a head coil, which can increase feelings of claustrophobia for the subject. Once inside of the head coil the subject's mouth is located immediately in front of the inside coil wall. A subjects breath pushed back into their face by the inside coil wall creates a very uncomfortable/claustrophobic feeling for the subject. This is an undesirable result since the MR exam may take 20 to 90 minutes. Additionally, general medical access and vocal communications are impeded with the coil extending over the subject's mouth and chin. Further, if the subject has a large head, nose, and/or chin, it becomes increasingly difficult to fit the subject's head inside of the coil. Another additional disadvantage for coils not having end caps is additional electromagnetic energy is lost from the top of the coil and thus the coil is less efficient at high frequencies.
While a back wall in a head coil is more desirable for coil performance and ergonomics in relation to the subject's mouth and chin (i.e., with a back wall the head coil body can be shorter and thus the head coil does not have to extend over the chin), a back wall is undesirable for a couple of reasons. First, a back plane closes off one end of the coil giving the appearance of putting ones head into a bucket rather than an open cylinder. This can increase a feeling of claustrophobia for the subject. Second, the back plane limits access to the subject from the back of the magnet. In coils without back planes, leads for physiological monitors, anesthesia and/or respiratory hoses, EEG leads, communications lines, etc., can be passed. In these systems visual signal projection is often performed from the rear of a magnet and through the back of a coil to mirror or prism systems mounted above the subjects' eyes. Therefore, presently, head coil manufacturers must choose between the benefits of having a coil back plane or end cap or the benefits associated with access to the subject provided by head coils with no end cap.
As stated above, a problem associated with head coils is the amount of space provided inside of the coil. RF coils transmit MR stimulus to the subject and receive signals back most efficiently when the coil is as close as possible to the subject. Therefore, for RF coil performance considerations, space inside a coil should be only enough for subject comfort and for the inclusion of devices useful for safety, head stability, and communication with the subject. As stated above, normally a subject must wear earphones or plugs for hearing protection and have separate pads inserted around the head to hold the head motionless for the MR exam. Further, there is typically some sort of visual and/or audio communications device adjacent to the head so that the MR operator can communicate with the subject. However, the padding, hearing protection and communication equipment can not only make the MR experience uncomfortable for the subject but this equipment also occupies limited space within the head coil.
All of these problems listed above, individually and collectively, degrade the overall quality of NMR images and spectra, add to the discomfort of the subject, and limit subject access for the physician or researcher. Therefore, what is clearly needed is a high performance apparatus, which provides for increased signal to noise ratios and improved MR image quality, while overcoming the problems discussed above.
An magnetic resonance apparatus in embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following features: (a) a coil having at least two sections, (b) the at least two sections having a resonant circuit, (c) the at least two sections being wirelessly coupled or decoupled, (d) the at least two sections being separable, (e) several openings allowing a subject to see and be accessed through the coil, (f) at least one cushioned head restraint, and (g) a subject input/output device providing visual data from in front and behind of the coil respectively; wherein the input/output device is selected from the group consisting of mirrors, prisms, video monitors, LCD devices, and optical motion trackers.
A magnetic resonance apparatus in embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following features: (a) a coil having at least one head restraint, (b) a means for audio communication to a subject connected to the head restraint, (c) a means for active or passive protection for a subject's hearing, (d) at least three head restraints to provide a three-point head restraint, (e) a means to secure said head restraint to a subject's head, and (f) a head cushion.
A TEM coil providing MR imaging in embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following features: (a) a coil providing at least two head restraints, (b) the head restraints having a means for audio communication to a subject, (c) a means for active or passive protection for a subject's hearing, (d) a head cushion to provide a three-point head restraint, (e) a means to secure said head restraints to a subject's head, and (f) a means to accept an audio signal input.
A magnetic resonance apparatus in embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following features: (a) a coil having at least two separable sections, (b) a input/output device, (c) a track system located within an open face area in the coil, and (d) the input/output device being slideably mounted on said track.
A TEM coil in embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following features: (a) an input/output device, (b) a track system located within an open face area in the coil, (c) the input/output device being slideably mounted on said track, and (d) the input/output device is selected from the group consisting of visual transducers, olfactory transducers, gustatory transducers, or auditory transducers to provide two way communication or stimulus.
An RF coil for magnetic resonance in embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following features: (a) the coil comprising a plurality of sections, (b) the plurality of sections being with wireless connections and able to wirelessly couple electromagnetic energy between the plurality of sections or the plurality of sections being reactively decoupled, (c) the plurality of sections being separable, and (d) a guiding means to assure mutual alignment between said plurality of sections.
A method of manufacturing a magnetic resonance device in embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following steps: (a) providing a coil having a plurality of sections; the plurality of sections being separable, (b) attaching a head restraint means to prevent movement of a subject's head, provide communication with the subject, and protect said subject's hearing, (c) inserting a slideable input/output device within an open window on said top section to provide subject with two way communication, (d) creating a rear projection slot providing a channel positioned in a back plane of said coil to provide access for a rear visual projection system.
A method of performing magnetic resonance imaging in embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following steps: (a) providing a coil having a top section and a bottom section; said top section and bottom section being separable and wirelessly connected, (b) placing a subject within the bottom section, (c) placing the top section in electromagnetic communication with the bottom section, (d) providing a plurality of openings in the top section to allow a subject to see through said coil and be accessed through said coil, (e) providing at least one cushioned device for head restraint.
A TEM magnetic resonance apparatus in embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following features: (a) a coil having at least two sections, (b) the at least two sections having a resonant circuit, (c) the at least two sections being reactively coupled or decoupled, (d) the at least two sections being separable, and (e) an overlapping shield on at least one section.
A method of manufacturing a TEM magnetic resonance device in embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following steps: (a) providing a coil having a plurality of sections; the plurality of sections being separable, and (b) determining an optimum profile of a transmission line element based on a predetermined need.
A TEM magnetic resonance apparatus in embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following features: (a) a coil having a transmission section, (b) a coil having a receiver section, (c) the coils having a resonant circuit, (d) the coils being operably coupled or decoupled, and (e) the coils being separable.
A method of manufacturing a TEM magnetic resonance device in embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following steps: (a) providing a coil having a transmission section, (b) providing a coil having a receiver section, (c) the coils being operably coupled or separable, and (d) selecting a desired transmission line element based on a predetermined need.
To assist in an understanding of the invention, a preferred embodiment or embodiments will now be described in detail. Reference will be frequently taken to the figures, which are summarized above. Reference numerals will be used to indicate certain parts and locations in the figures. The same reference numerals will be used to indicate the same parts or locations throughout the figures unless otherwise indicated.
The present invention is not limited to only distributed circuit cavity resonator head coils, and may be employed in many of various types of MR head coil devices. It is to be further understood, moreover, the present invention may be employed in many of various types of MR devices and is not limited only to head coils. For purposes of illustration only, however, the present invention is below described in the context of cavity resonator head coils.
With respect to
With reference to
Through research it has been found that hospitals, physicians, and MR system operators prefer to have a coil, which comes apart in two halves for ease of subject accessibility. With respect to
With reference to
The current paths on conventional birdcage coils 100 are dependent on end rings 102 making birdcage 100 inductance dependent on the diameter of the coil. Large coils such as head and body coils are very inductive and therefore resonate at lower frequencies.
With reference to
The current paths on TEM resonator 110 are not dependent on end rings 102, but rather on cavity wall 108 to provide a "return" path for current elements 109. TEM coil 110 can therefore be arbitrarily large in diameter such as a large body coil, and still resonate at frequencies limited only by the size of an individual line element. Segmented TEM coils 110 shown in
Therefore, the present invention utilizes top section 28 reactively coupled, inductively and/or capacitively, to bottom section 26 to allow for a separable design without the necessity of hard electrical contacts. The two sections of coil 24 are coupled reactively to one another so that all electrical circuits of coil 24 are sealed harmlessly inside dielectric coil packaging 27. The present invention not only makes coil 24 more accessible to subjects, it also minimizes or prevents any electrical shock hazard to the subject. Further, the separation of top section 28 and bottom section 26 assists in preventing eddy currents.
Another benefit of the reactive design of coil 24 is the ability to create an open window 29 substantially near the top of top section 28. As discussed above, a common problem with present systems is the coil giving the subject either an increased feeling of claustrophobia or not providing enough room for subjects with large heads, noses, and/or chins. Since, top section 28 has several openings 25, between inductively coupled elements of coil 24, the subject can freely see out of coil 24 and thus the feeling of claustrophobia is significantly reduced. Additionally, general medical access and vocal communications are not impeded due to open sections 29 & 25. Further, if the subject has a large head, nose, and/or chin, open window 29 allows the subject to fit comfortably within coil 24 as is depicted in
As can be seen from
With reference to
With respect to
Visual signal projection is often performed from the rear of a magnet and through the back of a coil to mirror or prism systems mounted above the subjects' eyes. Blocking this access with a coil back plane or endcap therefore prevents visual signal projection. The present invention solves the rear magnet access problem; at least in part by providing a substantial channel 60 in back wall 62 of coil 24. Opening 60 is located high in coil 24 to minimally affect the imaging performance in the head area of coil 24 while giving maximum access for rear visual projection systems. Therefore, opening 60 allows the coil 24 to preserve the advantages of a closed end coil, while allowing for most of the benefits of an open-ended coil. Further, channel 60 provides general medical access for temperature, air, oxygen, anesthesia, IV tubes, EEGleads, physiological monitors, or the like.
The tuned TEM resonator of the present invention is exemplified by a transmission line tuned coaxial cavity resonant in a TEM mode. The coaxial line tuning elements correspond to the "slotted" hollow center conductor of this coaxial cavity.
The input impedance to each low loss, shorted coaxial half cavity is given by
Z in =Zo tan h(α+jβ)l (1)
The characteristic impedance for this coaxial cavity is derived from Eq. 2:
Z o =√L/C=(η/2π)(ln b/a) for η=√(μ/∈) (2)
For a coaxial cavity whose outside radius is bc and whose inside radius is ac′
Z oc=(η0/2π)ln(b c /a c) (3)
Z inc =Z 0c tan h(αc +jβ c)1, αc ≈R c/2Z 0c
for α=0,
Z inc =Z Oc tan βc1 (5)
For Zinc=Xinc Eq. (12), the distributed inductance Lc of the low loss cavity is:
L c=2X inc/ω2Z 0c tan h(αc +jβc)1/ω
For the low loss coaxial cavity,
L c=2Z 0c tan (β01)/ω=2Z 0c1/υ0 (7)
Compared to a lumped element coil circuit enclosing a given volume, the inductance Lc of the coaxial cavity containing the same volume is significantly lower. The center gap series capacitance Cc required to resonate this cavity at the design frequency f=ω/2π is:
C c=�ωX inc=�ω(Z o tan h(αc +jβ c)1) (8)
And for the low loss approximation,
C c=1/(2ωZ 0 tan β01) (9)
This center conductor gap capacitance could be supplied in lumped elements or by a capacitive ring 127 as pictured in
C s =π∈l/ln(a/b) (10)
The fundamental TEM mode resonant frequency f0 of the cavity given by Eqs. 9, 10 is:
f 0=1/(2π√(L c C c))
The series conductor resistance Rc in the cavity is determined by the frequency dependent surface resistance Rs:
R c=(R s/2πc)(1/a c+1/b c)2l, (12)
where Rs=√(ωμ0/2σ)=1σδ.
Shallow skin depth δ of current flux in a good conductor σ=δ(107), S/m makes for the requirement of a large surface area of cavities for minimizing R. The skin depth, δ, of copper at 100 MHz, for example, is 0.0066 mm.
The small, high frequency skin depth dimension however allows the use of very thin foil or surface deposited conductors which adequately conduct (and contain) RF currents and fields, but effectively attenuate low frequency eddy current propagation as induced by switching B0 field gradient currents in the MR application. The characteristically high resonant Qrc of the cavity is:
Q rc =βc/2αc=2πf 0 L c /R c=2πf 0 Z 0 /R c
Although the optimum TEM mode Q occurring for the b/a ratio of 3.6 is not readily achievable in head and body coil applications in the meter bore magnet, practical coil dimensions allow for unloaded Q values in excess of 1000. The advantageous properties of decreased inductance, decreased resistance, increased frequency, high Q, and serf shielding for the coaxial cavity should now be clear.
To permit TEM mode magnetic field propagation in the utility center of the coaxial cavity, the hollow center conductor (reentrant wall with capacitive cylinder), must be slotted (1, 2). Unshielded lumped element capacitors or capacitive plates bridging the cavity's slotted center conductor "leak" to the conservative electric (E) field largely stored within these capacitors. Problematic stray E fields, however, which adversely affect the coil's tune, match, and phase stability as well as efficiency, can be better contained by using N coaxial line elements as tubular, shielded capacitors 129 (3), as in
For the fundamental TEM mode resonance, each mirrored pair coaxial element is in balanced series resonance with the cavity. The current waveform peak amplitude is centered on these balanced elements, and effects a transverse virtual ground plane which bisects the tuned cavity. A desired transverse B1 field maximum and an E field minimum are thereby generated within the cavity center as desired.
The TEM cavity resonator is tuned to the design frequency by adjusting the reactance (both L and C) of the line elements 9. Gross adjustment is managed by dimensional design of the elements and the cavity. Fine tuning is performed by manipulating the center conductor gaps in the elements, i.e. positioning the center conductors to appropriate insertion depths.
The transmission line element tuned coaxial cavity according to the invention is the basis for high frequency, large dimensioned volume coils for MR applications, and can be briefly characterized as a "tuned TEM resonator".
Transmission line theory (7) provides the design equations for the TEM resonator. The input impedance to each open coaxial half element is given by Eq. (15)
Z in =Z 0 cot h(α+jβ)1 (15)
and its characteristic impedance is derived from Eq. (2). For the input impedance Zin=Xine and characteristic impedance Z0=Z0e′ the distributed capacitance Ce for each of the coaxial tuning elements is:
C e1/2−ω X ine=1(2ωZ 0e cot h(αe+jβe)1)
The distributed capacitance of a series pair of lossless open line segments is easily calculated using jZ0cotβ1 for approximating Ce
Ce=tan βel/2ωZ 0e≈1/2Z 0eυ=π∈e l/ln(b e /a e) (17)
A coaxial tuning element of the cavity length 2l,
L e≈(Z 0e2le/υ)=Z 0e√(μ0∈e)2l (18)
From Eq. (12), the resistance Re per element is:
R e=((1/δσ)/2π)(1/a e+1/b e)2l
The total series inductance Lt′ capacitance Ct′ and resistance Rt′ for an N element tuned TEM resonator are:
L t ≈L c +L e /N (20)
Ct≈NCe (21)
R t ≈R c +R e /N (22)
Resonant frequencies are:
f r=ωr/2π=βυ/2π=nυ/4l=n/(4l√(LC)), n=integer (23)
In the approximations for L and C above, small amounts of mutual inductance and stray capacitance in the TEM resonator structure were not considered. By Eqs. (20, 21, and 23) the TEM mode resonance for the tuned TEM resonator is:
f 0t≈1/(2π�pi√(L t C t)) (24)
The Q factor for the TEM resonator is:
Q t≈2πf 0 L t /R t (25)
When coupled inductively or capacitively to a matched transceiver network, the quality factor becomes Q/2 for the circuit loaded TEM resonator.
TEM resonator modes: The tuned TEM resonator is a closed-ring periodic delay line similar to a traveling-wave magnetron oscillator (9).
In the traveling wave type oscillation, the mode M dependent phase difference ΦM between the electrical oscillations of N successive tuning elements is such to produce a rotating AC field or traveling wave periodic with τ M in the interaction space between the elements and the cavity of the resonator.
ΦM=2πM/N=β 0 τ M (26)
The traveling wave propagates in the azimuthal direction at an angular phase velocity ωM for the fundamental harmonic of mode M and phase constant β0 where angular phase velocity ωM equals the resonant or eigen frequency of the corresponding mode.
+ωM32+β0 dΦ/dt (27)
In the pass-band of the resonator, +Φ<π, therefore from Eq. (27), 0<M<N/2 for the integer M. (N/2+1) resonant modes are possible in the tuned TEM resonator.
M=NΦ M/2π (28)
The fundamental modes and corresponding resonant frequencies of the eight element tuned TEM resonator are graphically described in
y=c/aω=Mλ 0/2πa=Mλ 0 /Nτ
The abscissa is the ratio of the free space wavelength λ0 to the modal period τM=2πa/M for the resonator. The curves y=f(λ0/τ) for constant M/N are constant lines through the origin. The frequencies of the different fundamental modes are determined by the intersections of these constant mode lines with the dispersion curve:
c/aω=f(λ0/τ) (30)
Because the angular phase velocity ω has positive and negative components (traveling waves propagate in two directions around the closed-ring resonator), separate dispersion curves of positive and negative phase Φ may exist resulting in more possible frequencies for the tuned TEM resonator, N in total.
The lowest frequency corresponding to M=0 (the cyclotron frequency mode) is the self resonance of the tuned TEM resonator Eq. (24). For this frequency with all tuning elements oscillating in phase, Φ=0�. The highest frequency and upper boundary for the fundamental modes corresponds to M=N/2, the π mode. In this mode all tuning elements are in phase opposition with adjacent elements, Φ=+180�. A single frequency standing wave results.
The remaining (N/2−1) modes of resonance are degenerate doublets for imperfect TEM resonator symmetries. A slight departure from circular symmetry in the resonator will cause+dispersion curve separation resulting in degenerate mode splitting. The azimuthal current distribution as a function of Φ in the resonator elements can be generalized for an imperfect coil as a Fourier series of positive phase (co-rotating) and negative phase (counter-rotating) traveling waves of unequal amplitude and phase,
I=Σ 1 ∞(A M cos(ωt−MΦ+δ)+B M cos(ωt+MΦ+ξ))
where δ and ξ are arbitrary phase constants. For perfect circular symmetry where A=B, and δ=ξ, the doublets converge to a single frequency for each respective mode. As coupling between the tuning elements decreases, the modal resonances converge toward a single frequency approximated by Eq. (24).
Mode M=1 corresponding to Φ=2π/N is the TEM mode of choice for the clinical MR application. This mode produces a transverse B1 field whose maximum magnitude and homogeneity are coincident with the central transverse virtual ground plane of the tuned TEM volume coil. The 2π/N mode can be driven in quadrature for improved MR coil transmission and reception efficiency. This M=1 mode is closest to the single cyclotron mode (M=0), and is easily identified in non optimized coils as the lowest frequency split resonance.
According to the invention, if only eight elements of the resonator are tuned for a given frequency, the other eight are tuned for a different frequency, i.e. the TEM resonator can be double tuned by tuning even and odd elements respectively to two widely different frequencies (6). Two resonance groups then result of (N/4+1) modes each. Each resonance group consists of 2 single resonances separated by (N/4+1) degenerate double resonances.
The second mode of each group generates the desired transverse B1 field for the MR application. The double tuned TEM resonator so described is similar to the "rising-sun" magnetron oscillator (9).
These are shown in
According to my invention, the same coil structure can allow operation at two or more frequencies. For example, the
Of course, in providing multiple frequency operation, it is necessary to provide different values for other parameters, such as B1. However, the coil of my invention can accommodate such different values by having corresponding sets of elements, which sets, once tuned, provide the desired frequencies without further adjustment of any elements, and without alteration of the physical configuration of the coil itself. In effect, then the coil of my invention is as many coils as there are frequencies for which the elements of my coil are tuned.
As will be seen from
In practice, each group is tuned to some desired frequency by appropriately varying the depths of insertion of the center conductors, thereby fixing the elements' distributed impedances.
In use, one set or the other provides the desired field, and if necessary, is fine-tuned, just as if only 8 of its 16 elements are present. More generally, if there are n elements in all, then m thereof can form a set, thereby leaving (n−m) elements from which to form one or more additional sets.
Indeed, one will be able, in general, to provide k tunings, where k, the number of sets can be greater than 2.
Turning to
Like cavity 121, the cavity 141 is provided with transmission line elements 149, like elements 9, but being 16 in number. In order to provide more than one tunable frequency, two, say, for simplifying illustration of the present invention, a pair of circular non-conductive plastic plates 146 and 147 have the center conductors 150 of the elements 149 affixed thereto. In this case, every other conductor 30 is affixed to just one plate. Thus, plate 146 is affixed to the center conductor 30 of a set of elements 149 corresponding to frequency A, and plate 147 is affixed to the center conductors of the remaining elements 149, which correspond to frequency B. The outer conductors 151 of all 16 elements 149 are fixed to plate 144 and end ring 145, and are electrically continuous with the metal foil on cylinder 142, plate 144, and end ring 145.
The conductors 150 are fixed in position by collet clamps 152, which releasably secure the center conductors 150. Clamps 152 themselves are fixed in place, as by being embedded in the respective plates, which are shown as transparent, though they could as well be opaque.
It will be evident that during resonator assembly, the depth of insertion of conductors 150 in the segments 29 can be set by loosening the collet clamps, then individually adjusting the depths of insertion of conductors 150 until by actual measurement a resonant condition exists when RF energy of the desired frequency is used to energize the coil. This tuning is coarse, but at this point, the collet clamps are set to fix the depth of insertion of conductors 150. However, plate 147 can be translated along its axis (which is also the axis of cavity 141), in order to move all 8 conductors simultaneously, so as to vary their depth of insertion, by equal amounts.
(This may be taken as a description of the construction and operation of the single frequency resonator of
The remaining 8 center conductors in
Various mechanical movements cam be used for translating the plates 146 and 147, and indeed they can be moved directly by hand since the conductors 150 can have something of a friction fit in the dielectric of the elements, and in any event, the plates can be clamped in place by obvious means, not shown.
Preferably, I provide a simple screw mechanism, which acts colinearly of the plates' axis. Due to the symmetry of the arrangement, the plates cannot cock, and screw threading inherently provides clamping.
Screw 154 passes through plate 157, which corresponds to plate 146, via a threaded bore (not shown) in the plate, the bore being coaxial with the coil axis. Turning knob 155 therefore causes the plate 157 to translate along the coil axis, whereby to adjust the central conductors' position simultaneously and by equal amounts.
Corresponding to journal 156, mechanism 158 has journal 160 rotatably securing it to plate 144. Screw mechanism 158 is also threaded to plate 147 for translating it along the cavity axis.
In use, one first tunes the elements 149 whose center conductors are clamped in the collets of plate 146. Then one turns the other elements whose center conductors are clamped in the collets of plate 147. Since there is negligible coupling among the elements, neither turning affects the other.
The tuning features described above contemplate that, at the other ends of the transmission line segments, the initial depth of insertion of the corresponding center conductors, established in assembling the cavity, will not be changed in subsequent use. (The ring 145 will, of course, support the other outer ends of the elements 149, like the ring 24 does.) Additional tuning effect could be had by varying the depth of center conductor insertion at the other ends of the elements 149. This could be managed by an arrangement of rings corresponding to plates 146 and 147, which would serve to bodily adjust such depth of insertion, as do the plates 146 and 147. Note that one end of the cavity needs to be open for insertion of a body or body member.
In sum, then, one set or the other provides the desired field, and if necessary, is fine-tuned just as if only 8 of its 16 elements is present. More generally, if there are n elements in all, then m thereof can form a set, thereby leaving (n−m) elements from which to form one or more additional sets.
Indeed, one will be able, in general, to provide k tunings, whereby k, the number of sets, can be greater than 2.
The same approach allows the coil to be multiply tuned, in general, i.e., to three or more resonances.
TEM resonator B1 fields: The free space magnetic vector potential contours (flux lines) for the five modes of the eight element TEM resonator are schematized in
Viewing the human body as a heterogeneous, lossy dielectric of tissue wavelength proportions, the electromagnetic propagation boundary effects of refraction, reflection and attenuation must be considered. Substantial axial eddy current shielding and orthogonal displacement current extension of the B1 field are observed in human tissues at high frequencies. Fully time-dependent equations and complex numerical models are required for describing the high frequency coil B1 field distribution in anatomic regions of interest. A time-harmonic magnetic field B1/μ in a lossy, anisotropic, inhomogeneous coil-tissue system can be described by the differential form of the Maxwell-Ampere Law (10):
∇XB 1 /μ=J c +δD/δt (32)
By Ohm's Law the current density Jc=σE, and by Euler's Law the electric field displacement δD/δt=δ∈E/δt=jω∈E so that Eq. (32) can be rewritten as:
∇XB 1/μ=(σ+jω∈)E
The complex value of E can be written in terms of the magnetic vector potential A, and the electric scalar potential ψ, such that:
∇XB 1/μ=(σ+jω∈�)(−jωA−∇ψ)
Influencing the B1 distribution and loss in human tissues adjacent to the coil are the B1 field induced eddy current density, Je=−jωσA, and the accompanying electric field displacement current density, Jd=−jω∈E=ω2∈A for tissue specific values of σ and ∈. The magnetic vector potential lines A, and the contours B1=∇X A generated in a human head model by specified resonator element currents can be determined by solving numerically for A and ψ in the equation:
∇X1/μ∇XA=(σ+jω∈)(−jωA−∇ψ) (35)
Calculated B1 contours, T/m for phantom and head loaded TEM resonator models are shown in
Alternative TEM resonator models: So far, transmission line theory was used to describe the tuned TEM resonator as a transmission line tuned coaxial cavity resonator. Alternatively, the TEM resonator can be approximated as a balanced comb-line, band-pass filter using the lumped element circuit of
TEM resonator construction: Single and double tuned TEM resonators have been built for clinical MR applications from 70 to 175 MHz. Prototypes have been bench tested to 500 MHz. Thus,
A "transmission line element" need be no more than a pair, or more, of conductors side by side, and AC coupled to each other by a dielectric therebetween. It is evident, therefore, that "coaxial cable" is not the only form the "elements" or "segments" may take in the process of my invention.
The tuning elements are 21 cm coaxial line segments 9 whose outer member 31 is a copper conductor whose i.d. is 12.7 mm (0.5″), and whose center conductor 30 is a bisected 6.5 mm (0.25″) o.d. copper rod. Teflon sleeve inserts (not shown) provide the dielectric between conductors 150 and 31, and are machined to serve as both a dielectric and bearing surface between the two conductors. The Teflon sleeve thickness (be-ae) should be greater than 3 mm to preclude the possibility of dielectric breakdown and consequential arcing during high peak power transmitting. 5 mm Teflon spacers 15 at each end of the coax segment maintain electrical isolation between the outer conductor 11 of the element 9 and the cavity foil 13 to which the center conductor is attached. See
The element component diameters and the number of the tuning elements used are determined for a desired frequency and coil size by starting with Eq. (25) and working backwards solving for N, ae, and be. Assuming the lossless case for the lines and the cavity simplifies the calculations required. Using 4N tuning elements in the design facilitates quadrature drive. Typical values for N are 12 to 16 in a human head coil and 24 to 32 in a human body coil. Homogeneity is proportional to N whereas frequency is inversely proportional.
The divided center conductors of the tuning elements are conductively connected to the cavity 121 on one end thereof by the collet clamps 152, and on the other end by copper beryllium spring gaskets, copper straps, or the like. The collet clamps allow for fixed adjustment of the insertion depths of the center conductor halves during coil fabrication. The gaskets allow for variable adjustment during coil operation. By varying the insertion depth of their center conductors, the coaxial line elements are tuned to a desired coincidence of mode and frequency.
As previously described, the center conductors on one end of the cavity are mechanically linked by a mobile plate and screw mechanism such that by turning a knob or knobs all can be adjusted in concert to tune the resonator without effecting its field symmetry. Two line elements 9 separated by a 90� azimuth angle are connected to a pair of 90� phased ports 21 of a strip line quadrature hybrid for quadrature drive of the TEM resonator. See
The hybrid porks are properly phased and impedance matched to the coil and its human head or body load via the reactance of variable reactors comprising variable series capacitance and/or balun circuits, not shown in
TEM resonator optimization: Frequency tuning, impedance matching, quadrature phase isolation, B1 homogeneity and sensitivity, and Q are among the more important performance characteristics to be optimized for any quadrature volume coil. After the TEM resonator is constructed, the first step toward optimization is to adjust all elements (2N half elements) to the equal capacitance values which tone the resonator's M=1 mode resonance to the design frequency. An RCL meter is used for element capacitance measurements. A network analyzer frequency swept reflection measurement is used to produce the return loss plot identifying the 16 element head coil's 9 resonant modes in
Single and double tuned TEM resonators perform efficiently from 70 to 175 MHz in human head and body applications. The Q ratio of a 175 MHz tuned TEM head coil design is a high 840/90 typical of resonant cavities. The tuning range for this tuned cavity design is arbitrarily large to an octave or better. This range facilitates the use of a given coil at different field strengths and for different nuclei. For a whole human head, 90� optimization is typically achieved with a 1 kW, 250 μsec square pulse. For each MR study performed, the TEM resonator is tuned to frequency, matched to a VSWR of 1.0 at both coil drive points, and quadrature phase isolated to greater than 50 dB, all without adversely influencing B1 field symmetry. This In Situ optimization requires three external adjustments and less than three minutes time.
B1 field patterns observed in phantom and human loads are consistent with the model predictions of
Using the tuned TEM resonator at 4.1 Tesla, the potential for scientific studies and clinical diagnostics from anatomic, spectroscopic, and functional imaging of the brain has been convincingly demonstrated. With 400 μM in plane resolution from 3 mm slices, clinically important structures such as the basal ganglia, red nuclei, thalami and the substantial nigra were clearly visualized in 20 volunteers, potentiating image based diagnoses of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease (20). In 8 healthy volunteers and 7 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, the internal anatomy of the hippocampal formation was well defined. The alveus and fimbria were resolved from adjacent cellular layers; the stratum radiatum and lacunosum were resolved from the cornu ammonis. Atrophy, normal layer disruptions, and/or T1 and T2* deviations clearly indicated the affected hippocampus in all seven patients studied (21). High resolution spectroscopic images (0.5 cc voxels) from 10 healthy volunteers and 3 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients indicates the potential for using the spatial variability of NAA, creatine, choline, and lactate across MS plaques for the diagnosis and understanding of the disease (22). In high resolution NAA images of the whole brain, the loss of NAA from small stroke penumbra is dramatic (23). The high spatial and temporal resolution detection and quantification of the amino acids glutamate and glutamine are important for mechanistic studies and diagnoses of metabolic disorders such as hepatic encephalopathy (24). High resolution spectroscopic imaging studies of 10 human subjects have been used to quantify gray and white matter metabolites in the whole brain In-Vivo (25). The tuned TEM resonator has proven effective for the application of homogeneous, high resolution 3-D cerebral activation mapping (functional imaging) of the human brain at 175 MHz (26). The preceding results and those from studies in progress, demonstrate the effectiveness of the tuned TEM resonator design for high field clinical applications.
Human in, ages and spectra obtained with an experimental 4.1 T MR system indicate the advantages gained by performing clinical studies at higher B0 fields. These advantages of S/N, spatial resolution, temporal resolution, chemical shift resolution and the magnetic susceptibility enhancement of brain and other organ functions point to higher B0 fields in clinical MR.
An RF coil in accordance with embodiments of the invention achieves these advantages, allowing it to replace coils of the present lumped element technologies which have been used for clinical sized volumes at higher frequencies. The distributed technology presented herein, making use of transmission lines and resonant cavities, performs well over the tested bandwidth of 70-175 MHz for human head and body coil applications. Beyond this, bench tested prototype single and double tuned large volume coils forecast successful use of the tuned TEM resonator at frequencies to 500 MHz, for human volumes, and even higher for smaller volumes.
With reference to
As discussed above, TEM coil 200 provides several benefits over the conventional technology birdcage approach. For example, each transmission line element 208 (
Coil 200 may be shielded (e.g., self-shielded), according to certain embodiments. Shielding may be provided by the arrangement and composition of the transmission line elements 208, for example. As an example, for each inner conductor 212 of transmission line element 208, outer shield portion 210 (e.g., the outside portion of transmission line element 208) forms a self-shielded enclosure when closed around a subject (e.g., a limb such as a leg, or an arm). In the case of a leg or arm, for example, a self-shielded coil may substantially prevent or limit the RF field generated inside coil 200 from leaking out to the outside of coil 200. Therefore, when coil 200 is put on a limb (e.g., a leg or arm), a neighboring limb (or other part of the body) is invisible to the inside of coil 200. An undesired signal (e.g., noise) is therefore not received and/or coupled from the other limb. This aspect may be very beneficial in limb monitoring where a second (e.g., non-imaged) limb may be adjacent the limb being monitored. For example, a patient's legs may be positioned side-by-side, or an arm may be positioned next to a patient's body. The operator only wants to receive a signal from a leg of interest, and not from the adjacent leg, or to receive a signal only from an arm, and not from the rest of the patient's body. If coil 200 is not shielded, an undesired signal could "bleed in" from nearby anatomy, thereby adding noise to the intended signal.
With continued reference to
In some embodiments of the invention, coil 200 can be a separable coil wherein at least one separable section of coil 200 has an outer shield portion 210 adapted to overlap the outer shield portion of an adjacent section of coil 200.
In some embodiments, inner conductors 212 may include coaxial elements adapted to traverse coil 200 within transmission line elements 208. As shown in
In embodiments of the invention, energy may be transferred from an energy source (e.g., RF electrical energy) to one or more transmission line elements 208. In embodiments in which energy is delivered to a single transmission line element 208, energy may be provided to the other transmission line elements 208 via reactance or reactive coupling. Reactance includes inductance and capacitance (and reactive coupling includes inductive and capacitive coupling). The transmission line elements 208 are therefore reactively coupled to each other by an RF magnetic field or flux. Reactive coupling (e.g., inductive coupling) transfers energy from one transmission line element 208 to another. The transmission line elements 208 are also capacitively coupled by the corresponding outer shield portions 210.
With reference to
In some embodiments of the invention, a determination may be made of an optimum profile of elements as the size of the coil is made to be smaller (e.g., smaller in diameter), and thus, a change in the profile of the TEM element is desired. Determination of an optimum profile of coil 200 is the concept that with the TEM coil, a transmission line element 208, having an outer shield portion 210 and parallel with that, an inner conductor or conductive element 212, can take many different forms, depending on coil constraints and whether the thinnest coil possible is desired for a given application, for example. There are a wide variety of different transmission line sections conceivable that would be optimized for specific applications whether they be anatomy or real estate in the magnets. The inner conductors may be different sizes, and can be made of different materials, have different spacings, have different numbers in a given coil, and can have different spatial orientations, for example.
Another embodiment of the present invention involves a multi-channel aspect for active detuning of the transmit and receive element. Passive components can be used to detune elements which does not degrade the imaging quality of the coil during transmission or reception. This could also involve impedance coupling between other coils especially during the receive phase of multi-channel elements placed interior to the end transmitter coil. This embodiment would involve actively detuning a TEM transmit coil from, for example, an array volume coil. For example, from a phased array volume coil from a parallel array volume coil, e.g., a TEM or transmission line array volume coil. With this aspect the operator can detune the TEM volume coil.
With reference to
As shown with continued reference to
This concept is not limited to separable coil arrays as is discussed above and could be extended to most any type of coil body type. Further, it is contemplated that both coils could be mated and nested in most any manner, such as any mechanical means to mate the two in a stable, efficient way and the connecter means could have a mating connecter so the operator could slide the nested coil into the outer coil, and a plug (or other suitable electromechanical coupling) would be provided inside the outer coil to accept the nested coil. For example, a slot within the outer coil could be used to accept a pin connection from the nested coil in certain embodiments. Further, such slots (or their equivalents) could be used to align both coils for optimum transmission and reception. In some embodiments, the outer coil may be adapted to function like a docking station, providing the ability to accept a number of different types of nested coils interchangeably, to plug in according to the particular application.
Some embodiments of the invention involve making pairs of coils (or combinations of two or more coils) that fit together and work together in an integrated way to improve the performance (e.g., improve the efficiency and/or the imaging quality). In the embodiment shown, transmission line elements 306 of an outer coil 300 are combined with loop elements 304 of a nested loop array coil 302 to produce an optimal field for imaging. Various alternative combinations could include a circular polarized field on a per element basis, a combination of two coils together to achieve a certain desired field shape, combining two coils together to achieve a certain space of comfort or ergonomic positioning (e.g., for patient comfort), or combining two coils together to produce a larger transmit coil having the ability to use different sizes of nested coils for different size patients.
Another embodiment of the invention involves a removable receiver array allowing for multi-function imaging. The receiver array is disposed on a coil that can be inserted into a TEM transmit coil. Different coil configurations may allow, for example, for anatomically-specific coils (e.g., knee coils, elbow coils, etc.), alternate axis sense coils, etc., and/or different numbers of channels (e.g., 8, 12, 16 channels), which can be placed on the coil with electronics configurable to implement one or more the multi-function variations. For parallel imaging, an increased number of channels may provide increased imaging speed as an additional benefit.
When a coil (e.g., an RF imaging coil) is used with an MR system, it is typically coupled to the rest of the system (e.g., to the operation of a TEM coil, for example). One way in which this may be accomplished is through the use of an RF front end (shown in
In various embodiments of the invention, a number of different RF coils, for example, for imaging a patient's entire head, for imaging a portion of a patient's head, for imaging a patient's eye (or eyes), or for imaging a patient's knee, would all be adapted to electrically and mechanically couple with the transmit coil (e.g., slide into the same coupling slots) to provide the ability to use different specialty coils with a single transmit coil. Therefore, when an operator slides an RF coil for a particular imaging application into coil 300, a mechanical connection is made between the coils as well as an RF connection. In some embodiments, a coaxial connector 312 (see
In other embodiments of the invention, a single coil may be configurable for use as a multi-function or multi-use or multi-channel coil. Such a coil may be electronically configured, for example, as either an 8- or 16-channel receiver, or as a single-channel TEM volume receive coil. In certain embodiments, a single channel TEM coil may function as both a transmitter and receiver for spectroscopy. In this embodiment, a single coil can be electronically reconfigured to serve different functions. For example, to image the eyes of a patient, an operator might transmit with a transmit TEM coil, and an imaging signal might be received using a coil with two loops (e.g., one loop for each eye). If imaging of only one eye was desired, one loop could be turned off, for example, via pin diode 315 (
Thus, a coil system in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is electronically configurable. An operator may therefore be able to turn on or off different elements to achieve flexibility in imaging. The RF magnetic field inside the patient is a result of superimposed field contributions from each coil element. The present embodiment suggests being able to selectively turn on or off different combinations of line elements and/or loop array elements, thus creating different field superpositions and conditions to create different desired effects in the RF field. In a coil with line elements intended for imaging an entire head, for example, an operator could turn on elements nearer the back of the head (and turn off nearer the front of the head) in order to provide an image of just the back of the head. The ability to select the line elements in this manner may result in less power consumption, and may also be beneficial to the patient (e.g., in terms of less time and less exposure). This may be accomplished through the use of pin diodes 315 located in each such line element, for example, allowing the operator to select and deselect elements according to the application. The operator can also control the elements in other ways. The operator can control the elements (and hence, the nature of the RF fields) by changing the frequency of each, or by transmitting more than one frequency, or changing the phasing of each, for example. Pin diodes 315 may be electronically configurable to control phase shifters, frequency shifters, and on/off switches.
The above discussion could be extended to include a separable coil system, such as provided above. In such an embodiment, the transmit and receive coils may be separable from each other, and may be adapted to be reactively coupled to one another according to certain embodiments.
It will be appreciated that the present invention can take many forms and embodiments. The various embodiments of the invention are defined in the appended claims, and it is not intended that the particular embodiment presented herein should limit the scope thereof.
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text:
Disney announces their own 'mini-console multimedia' for Android games and movies
It will be called 'Kids TV'.
Disney, which has been reducing its presence in the video game gradually, has announced in the past CES of Las Vegas the marketing of a new device, Disney Kids TV, a TV box will serve as console and media center for watching movies and series from our own production.
A media center based on Android
Disney Kids TV will be manufactured by Snakebyte -company with some experience in this area-and will use Android as operating system. In this way, the small device will also serve as a console for sets of the signature, allowing us to even sync it with wireless controls dressed with Bluetooth.
Disney has designed the device for the little ones, and although it will offer films, several of the attendees to highlight their control system. That is, although applications like Netflix or Hulu will be compatible thanks to the Android operating system, the content will be restricted to intelligently depending on the age of the user. Also, as indicated from MCV, you will be able to carry and move content to the screen from other devices such as tablets, smartphones or similar.
Unfortunately, we do not know their technical features -have not transcended it-, nor the official release date -although it is expected to 2017-, but its price, which will be $ 99 in the united States.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
You're approaching the checkout to pay $50 for a new pen when someone tells you about another store, across town, that has the identical pen for $30. If you're like most people, you put the pen back and walk for ten minutes to save the $20.
Now, let's consider the same scenario, but this time you're buying a $1000 sofa – would you make the journey across town to pay $980 for the sofa instead? Neither would I.
Most of us like to think of ourselves as rational, with a good handle on how to make optimal financial decisions, but as the above example demonstrates, we're not quite as pragmatic as think we are. After all, are we prepared to walk across town to save $20 or not? If we are to be completely rational about it, we wouldn't let the total amount, or more specifically the ratio of saving to total amount, have anything to do with the decision.
Another, even more dramatic
flaw in our logic is the power of FREE
Being human though, we are not rational, and we always consider the decisions we face in relation to their context. Another, even more dramatic flaw in our logic is the power of FREE.
When offered the a choice between a paying $1 for a $10 Amazon gift certificate, or $8 for a $20 Amazon gift certificate, most people spot the better deal and pony up for the more expensive certificate seeing that their net gain will be $12 instead of the cheaper certificate's $9 gain.
But when we modify the options by reducing the cost of each item by a dollar so that the $20 certificate costs $7 and the $10 certificate is free, which would would you choose now?
It turns out that the majority now choose the free deal, blinded from the better deal by FREE! The reason for this is a deeply ingrained aversion to loss. When we consider each option we weigh up the the pros and cons, the wins and losses. The win is the stuff we can buy with the certificate, and the loss is the money we hand over to pay for it.
By reducing the cost to free,
we remove the loss which blinds us
to the advantage of the better deal
By reducing the cost to free, we remove the loss which blinds us to the advantage of the better deal. Let me stay with Amazon to tell you a real life example of the power of loss aversion. A number of years ago they introduced the now common offer of free deliver on all orders over a certain amount.
The take up was huge. When weighing up the pros and cons of shopping online versus a visit to their local bookstore, shoppers placed the cost of delivery as one of the biggest disadvantages of shopping online, so by reducing the cost to free Amazon eliminated the loss aversion.
In their infinite Gallic wisdom,
the French Amazon team modified the offer
Amazon did notice one anomaly though – France. For some reason the offer was making little impact to sales in France, and upon closer inspection, the culprit was found. In their infinite Gallic wisdom, the French Amazon team modified the offer so that over a certain price delivery was reduced to one franc (about 20 cents) a cost considerably less than one might spend traveling to their local bookstore.
Although the offer's super cheap delivery was nearly free, it was still enough to trigger our loss aversion, and when the deal was modified to make it genuinely free, sales increased in line with the rest of the world.
One more area of financial irrationality comes when we travel between the worlds of social norms and market norms. Imagine you're a lawyer, and the girl next door asks you to spend an hour next Tuesday looking after her dog while she's out of town visiting her family. No problem. We consider this in relation to social norms and are happy to help.
Now consider you being asked to spend the same hour to help out, but instead you're asked to prepare a legal document, the stuff you do in your 9 to 5. We consider this request in relation to market norms and are considerably less likely to want to help.
This flip side of this is, at the end of a wonderful family meal prepared by your mother in law, to stand up and praise her for such a feast and then pull out a wad of money from your wallet to pay for it. The transition for social norm to market norm (and vice versa) is painful.
when a new scheme that asked them
to work for free for the same retired
people was introduced it was a great success
Take the example of the US lawyers asked to drop their fee to $30 an hour for retired people. The scheme was a failure with few legal professionals getting involved, but when a new scheme that asked them to work for free for the same retired people was introduced it was a great success, as their decision was considered within social norms.
If your organisation benefits from a social contract with its customers then be careful to nurture this as it is as fragile as it is valuable, as can be see in this last example.
A few years ago, a children's day care center did an experiment to see if they could reduce the number of parents that arrived late to pick up their kids by introducing a financial penalty for such tardiness.
before the fines started there was a social contract in place, where the parents would feel bad about the staff having to stay late to wait for them to turn up
This turned out to have the opposite effect than intended with more parents being late more often. Why was this? Well, before the fines started there was a social contract in place, where the parents would feel bad about the staff having to stay late to wait for them to turn up. Now that the cost of being late had a price, this market contract meant that they could simply consider if the extra 30 minutes of child care was worth the cost of the fine.
A really interesting thing happened weeks later though, when the fines were removed. Instead of returning to a social contract, parents instead continued to weigh up the financial cost of turning up late, and now you know how we feel about FREE it will come as no surprise to you to learn parental punctuality became worse than ever!
If you find this kind of stuff interesting then I recommend these excellent books for further reading, as they are where most of my examples come from.
- Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
- How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
- Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin, Robert B. Cialdini