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Integrated physiological flow simulator and pulse sequence monitoring system for MRI

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Abstract

A compact flow simulator for generating accurate pulsatile flow in a clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) environment has been developed and integrated with a data acquisition (DAQ) system for recording scanner system activity and physiological waveforms. The flow simulator is relatively inexpensive, easy to construct and is controlled from a standard PC. The flow simulator is robust to repeated disassembly and reassembly (normalised cross-correlation 0.97) and generates accurate pulsatile flow (normalised cross-correlation 0.94). The DAQ system was used to monitor a standard MRI pulse sequence used in MR angiography and latent delays in the scanner gating subsystem.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust. The authors are grateful to the MRIS Unit and Department of Clinical Engineering at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, and Chris Macgowan for his comments on our flow simulation.

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Correspondence to Pauline Wong.

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Wong, P., Graves, M.J. & Lomas, D.J. Integrated physiological flow simulator and pulse sequence monitoring system for MRI. Med Biol Eng Comput 46, 399–406 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-008-0319-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-008-0319-x

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