Systematic analysis of the quench process performance and simulation of the 9.4 T-800 mm whole-body MRI magnet

In 2021, the Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences successfully reached 9.4 T in a whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) superconducting magnet with an inner diameter of 800 mm. In this study, a systematic analysis of both the real quench protection performance and a simulation are reported. The four successful quench protections during the entire energization process proved the feasibility of the 'in-out-in' quench protection protocol for a 9.4 T-800 mm superconducting magnet. The quench trigger sequence was shown to be adjusted by changing the heater thickness, which demonstrates the flexibility of the 'in-out-in' quench protection protocol to fit a different MRI magnet design. The high accuracy of the quench protection simulation method and code was confirmed through comparison of the simulation results with the real performance. Moreover, the limitations of the current quench protection and reference value to other MRI magnets were discussed. It is believed that this study will be useful to other research groups and promote the development of an extremely high-field whole-body MRI system.

Automated summary

The Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences has successfully developed a whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) superconducting magnet with a diameter of 800 mm and a magnetic field of 9.4 T in 2021. This study provides a systematic analysis and simulation of the real quench protection performance. Four successful quench protections during the energization process demonstrate the feasibility of the 'in-out-in' quench protection protocol for this superconducting magnet. The flexibility of the protocol to fit different MRI magnet designs is also confirmed by adjusting the quench trigger sequence through changing the heater thickness. The study validates the accuracy of the quench protection simulation method and code and discusses the limitations and reference value of the current quench protection for other MRI magnets.