RF Design Suite
“You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat.” – Albert Einstein
The Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping (CFMM), located within the Robarts Research Institute at the University of Western Ontario, has been involved in the research, development, and construction of radiofrequency (RF) coils for over two decades, including a strong history in the production of transmit and receive coils (1H and x-nuclei) for more than a dozen research facilities and hospitals around the world.
The RF suite is situated in the heart of the CFMM serving both the 3T/7T and 9.4 T MRI suites. The RF suite itself is well equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation making RF device development, construction, and servicing convenient. The equipment housed in the suite includes vector network analyzers, impedance analyzers, noise figure analyzer, spectrum analyzers, digital oscilloscopes, frequency generators, material measurement systems, power supplies, and a myriad of tools necessary for any sophisticated RF project. CFMM has access to a variety of advanced electrical and mechanical manufacturing facilities. The suite is equipped with various CAD tools for mechanical modeling (Solidworks and MasterCam), printed circuit board (PCB) design, measurement automation and data acquisition (Labview and Matlab), and full-wave numerical electromagnetic modeling/analysis (CST). An NC mill and machine shop, housed in the basement of the facility, serves as an extension to the RF suite, giving us complete electro-mechanical capability in RF coil/system production.
The Team & Mission
Our philosophy embraces continuous research and development dedicated to advancing the efficacy of high-field MRI technology. Pushing the frontier in RF design for high-field MRI towards higher image fidelity, lower operational costs, and broader utility is our quest in the RF design suite. Our team specializes in designing, developing, and commissioning state-of-the-art RF solutions for high-field MRI scanners, e.g., 3T, 7T, 9.4T and beyond. Whether there are no commercial RF systems available to meet the operational requirements, or otherwise they fail to achieve that end, we develop superior systems based on innovative design concepts.
Expertise
- Full mechanical design and fabrication of RF coils and peripheral hardware
- Printed-circuit-board design
- Full-wave numerical electromagnetic modeling
- RF coil design and fabrication — receive and transmit arrays at multiple frequencies
- RF coil safety and performance evaluation
- RF measurements and instrumentation
Facilities and Equipments
The RF suite is situated in the heart of the CFMM serving both the 3T/7T and 9.4 T MRI suites. The RF suite itself is well equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation making RF device development, construction and servicing convenient. The equipment housed in the suite include vector network analyzers, impedance analyzers, noise figure analyzer, spectrum analyzers, digital oscilloscopes, frequency generators, material measurement systems, power supplies and a myriad of tools necessary for any sophisticated RF project. CFMM has access to variety of advanced electrical and mechanical manufacturing facilities. The suite is equipped with various CAD tools for mechanical modeling (Solidworks and MasterCam), schematic capture/printed circuit board (PCB) design, (Altuim Designer), measurement automation and data acquisition, (Labview and Matlab), full-wave numerical electromagnetic modeling/analysis, (CST). An NC mill and machine shop, housed in the basement of the facility, serves as an extension to the RF suite giving us complete electro-mechanical capability in RF coil/system production.
Consulting / Collaboration
If you are interested in collaborating with or requesting a quote from the CFMM RF design suite, please contact Dr. Kyle Gilbert (kgilbert@robarts.ca). We are always happy to discuss potential projects!
Service / Repairs
We offer service and repairs on the coils we manufacture, both inside and outside of warranty. We continue to all of our hardware projects. Please refer to our CFMM Product Warranty and Repair Policy for details.
