A primary field compensation scheme for planar array magnetic induction tomography

Three-Dimensional Magnetic Induction Tomography: Practical Implementation for Imaging throughout the Depth of a Low Conductive and Voluminous Body

Magnetic induction tomography (MIT) is a contactless, low-energy method used to visualize the conductivity distribution inside a body under examination. A particularly demanding task is the three-dimensional (3D) imaging of voluminous bodies in the biomedical impedance regime. While successful MIT simulations have been reported for this regime, practical demonstration over the entire depth of weakly conductive bodies is technically difficult and has not yet been reported, particularly in terms of more realistic requirements. Poor sensitivity in the central regions critically affects the measurements. However, a recently simulated MIT scanner with a sinusoidal excitation field topology promises improved sensitivity (>20 dB) from the interior. On this basis, a large and fast 3D MIT scanner was practically realized in this study. Close agreement between theoretical forward calculations and experimental measurements underline the technical performance of the sensor system, and the previously only simulated progress is hereby confirmed. This allows 3D reconstructions from practical measurements to be presented over the entire depth of a voluminous body phantom with tissue-like conductivity and dimensions similar to a human torso. This feasibility demonstration takes MIT a step further toward the quick 3D mapping of a low conductive and voluminous object, for example, for rapid, harmless and contactless thorax or lung diagnostics.

Technologies for magnetic induction tomography sensors and image reconstruction in medical assisted diagnosis: A review

Magnetic induction tomography (MIT) is a non-invasive and non-contact imaging technology, which can be used in medical diagnosis by reconstructing the electrical distribution of biological tissues. Unlike other large medical imaging equipment, the device of MIT is with small size and low cost. The theoretical basis of MIT is by measuring the phase difference of magnetic flux density generated around the imaging objects, analyzing the eddy current distribution, and then using the reconstruction algorithms to obtain the electrical characteristic distribution of the object. This review introduces the development of imaging systems and the reconstruction algorithms of MIT as a medical assisted diagnostic technology, including the optimal design of the sensors, the excitation methods of the system, the calculation methods of the eddy current, and the improved methods of different reconstruction algorithms.

A cerebral edema monitoring system based on a new excitation source

BACKGROUND

Real-time clinical monitoring of cerebral edema (CE) is of great importance and requires continuously improved and optimized measurement hardware.

METHODS

A new excitation source with higher frequency stability and wide output power range is presented in this work. The proposed excitation source is small in size and easy to integrate. The output power range of excitation signal used is 1.5 ∼ 33 dBm with a reference signal of 9 ∼ 11 dBm, and the phase shift stability of the excitation signal and reference signal reach 10-7 within 20 min.

RESULTS

When normal saline (0.9%, 10 mL, 20 mL, 30 mL, 40 mL, and 50 mL) is injected into a human head phantom model, the magnetic induction phase shift (MIPS) changes from 252.78 ± 7.61 degrees to 252.40 ± 7.77 degrees. The MIPS signal shows a downward trend with increasing volume, indicating that MIPS can reflect the volume change of the measured object. Moreover, a more dramatic trend is visible when the solution volume increases from 0 to 10 mL and from 40 to 50 mL. This occurs where the volume increment is closer to the upper and lower sides of the over-ear sensor, where the magnetic field is strongest.

CONCLUSION

The phantom simulation experiments illustrate that the proposed MIPS detection system based on a signal source can detect the real-time progress of CE. Advantages of low cost, high precision, and high sensitivity endow this system with excellent application prospects.

In-bed vital signs monitoring system based on unobtrusive magnetic induction method with a concentric planar gradiometer

SIGNIFICANCE

Unobtrusive vital signs monitoring is of major importance for various medical areas such as detection and treatment of sleep disorders, monitoring neonates and burned victims, home health care and smart home applications and wearables among others. Such applications call for monitoring methods in which the patient's natural state is less interfered with. An ideal device would be non-invasive, minimally restrictive, robust enough to compensate movements of the patients, and would operate without relying on the patient's full cooperation.

OBJECTIVE

This paper focuses on the design and development of an unobtrusive vital signs monitoring system particularly suited for long-term monitoring placed under the mattresses.

APPROACH

The system is based on the magnetic induction sensing method, designed to infer presence on the bed, breathing and cardiac activity, and consists of two coils for excitation and detection. The new detection coil is based on a concentric planar gradiometer for canceling the primary field. The signal acquisition system has been designed using simple electronics to avoid ending up with a complex and expensive system. The experimental results were compared with reference signals coming from other known sensors with different technical bases for benchmarking and identifying the advantages and/or drawbacks of the new system regarding other techniques. The designed system was also studied in regards to safety standards and limitations for the exposure to the magnetic fields.

MAIN RESULTS

Experimental results confirm the suitability and safety of the sensor for long-term cardiac and respiratory monitoring. The system is able to detect respiration and cardiac activity as well as the presence on the bed and changes in position.

Detection and Elimination of Signal Errors Due to Unintentional Movements in Biomedical Magnetic Induction Tomography Spectroscopy (MITS)

In biomedical MITS, slight unintentional movements of the patient during measurement can contaminate the aimed images to a great extent. This study deals with measurement optimization in biomedical MITS through the detection of these unpredictable movements during measurement and the elimination of the resulting movement artefacts in the images to be reconstructed after measurement. The proposed detection and elimination (D&E) methodology requires marking the surface of the object under investigation with specific electromagnetically perturbing markers during multi-frame measurements. In addition to the active marker concept already published, a new much simpler passive marker concept is presented. Besides the biological signal caused by the object, the markers will perturb the primary magnetic field inducing their own signals. The markers' signals will be used for the detection of any unwanted object movements and the signal frames corrupted thereby. The corrupted signal frames will be then excluded from image reconstruction in order to prevent any movement artefacts from being imaged with the object. In order to assess the feasibility of the developed D&E technique, different experiments followed by image reconstruction and quantitative analysis were performed. Hereof, target movements were provoked during multifrequency, multiframe measurements in the β-dispersion frequency range on a saline phantom of physiological conductivity. The phantom was marked during measurement with either a small single-turn coil, an active marker, or a small soft-ferrite plate, a passive marker. After measurement, the erroneous phantom signals were corrected according to the suggested D&E strategy, and images of the phantom before and after correction were reconstructed. The corrected signals and images were then compared to the erroneous ones on the one hand, and to other true ones gained from reference measurements wherein no target movements were provoked on the other hand. The obtained qualitative and quantitative measurement and image reconstruction results showed that the erroneous phantom signals could be accurately corrected, and the movement artefacts could be totally eliminated, verifying the applicability of the novel D&E technique in measurement optimization in biomedical MITS and supporting the proposed aspects.

Magnetic induction spectroscopy (MIS)-probe design for cervical tissue measurements

OBJECTIVE

Gradiometers have the advantage of increasing measuring sensitivity, which is particularly useful in magnetic induction spectroscopy (MIS) for bio-impedance measurements. Traditional gradiometers use a pair of field sensing coils equally distant and on opposite sides of a drive coil, which provides high immunity to interference. In this paper, a ferrite-cored coaxial gradiometer probe of 29 mm diameter has been developed for measuring the impedance spectra of cervical tissues in vivo.

APPROACH

It consists of a ferrite rod with outer ferrite confinement screening in order to eliminate the signals from surrounding tissue. The magnetic screening efficiency was compared with an air-cored gradiometer probe. For both gradiometer probes, a drive coil and two sensing coils were wound on a borosilicate glass former aligned coaxially with two sensing coils equidistant from the drive coil. The signal sensitivity of those two MIS gradiometers has been measured using saline samples with a conductivity range between 0.1 and 1.1 S m^-1. Finite element methods using COMSOL Multiphysics have been used to simulate the distribution of sensitivity to conductivity over the face of each probe and with depth.

MAIN RESULTS

The ferrite-cored probe has a sensitivity confined to the volume defined by the gap between the ferrite core and outer tube of ferrite while the air-cored probe without any magnetic shielding had a wide sensitivity over the face and the side of the probe. Four saline samples and one of distilled water with conductivities from 0.1 to 1.1 S m^-1 have been used to make conductivity measurements at frequencies of 50 kHz, 100 kHz, and 300 kHz. The measurement accuracy of the air-cored MIS probe was 0.09 S m^-1 at 50 kHz, improving to 0.05 S m^-1 at 300 kHz. For the ferrite-cored MIS probe, the measurement accuracy was 0.28 S m^-1 at 50 kHz, improving to 0.04 S m^-1 at 300 kHz.

SIGNIFICANCE

In vivo measurements on human hand have been performed using both types of gradiometers and the conductivity is consistent with reported data.

Experimental study on the detection of rabbit intracranial hemorrhage using four coil structures based on magnetic induction phase shift

Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is the bleeding induced by parenchyma vascular rupture. In this paper, four novel coils (a contralateral hemisphere cancellation coil, a coaxial coil, a double-end exciting coil, and a Helmholtz coil) were developed to detect the volume change of ICH with the magnetic induction phase shift (MIPS) technique. Both numerical studies on an ICH model and animal experiments on rabbits' hemorrhage model were performed with four coils. Twenty rabbits were measured for each coil. The animal results were consistent with the simulation and the theoretical analysis for each coil. The MIPS first declined and then increased with increasing injection volume, indicating the existence of a turning point. The MRI images showed that the average CSF decreased in the heads of five rabbits after blood injection was approximately equal to the average injection volume corresponding to the turning point of all animals. Thus, we concluded that when the MIPS turning point occurs, the CSF is already exhausted and the compensatory stage has ended. The results show that the MIPS technique has the potential to detect ICH growth and MIPS changes with increasing blood in a regular way. The turning point is expected to provide an early warning for ICH growth.

Detection of cerebral hemorrhage in rabbits by time-difference magnetic inductive phase shift spectroscopy

Cerebral hemorrhage, a difficult issue in clinical practice, is often detected and studied with computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET). However, these expensive devices are not readily available in economically underdeveloped regions, and hence are unable to provide bedside and emergency on-site monitoring. The magnetic inductive phase shift (MIPS) is an emerging technology that may become a new tool to detect cerebral hemorrhage and to serve as an inexpensive partial substitute to medical imaging. In order to study a wider band of cerebral hemorrhage MIPS and to provide more useful information for measuring cerebral hemorrhage, we established a cerebral hemorrhage magnetic induction phase shift spectroscopy (MIPSS) detection system. Thirteen rabbits with five cerebral hemorrhage states were studied using a single coil-coil within a 1 MHz-200 MHz frequency range in linear sweep. A feature band (FB) with the highest detection sensitivity and the greatest stability was selected for further analysis and processing. In addition, a maximum conductivity cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) MRI was performed to verify and interpret the MIPSS result. The average phase shift change induced by a 3 ml injection of autologous blood under FB was -7.7503° ± 1.4204°, which was considerably larger than our previous work. Data analysis with a non-parametric statistical Friedman M test showed that in the FB, MIPSS could distinguish the five states of cerebral hemorrhage in rabbits, with a statistical significance of p<0.05. A B-F distribution profile was designed according to the MIPSS under FB that can provide instantaneous diagnostic information about the cerebral hemorrhage severity from a single set of measurements. The results illustrate that the MIPSS detection method is able to provide a new possibility for real-time monitoring and diagnosis of the severity of cerebral hemorrhage.

A special phase detector for magnetic inductive measurement of cerebral hemorrhage

Cerebral hemorrhage is an important clinical problem that is often monitored and studied with expensive techniques, such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET). These devices are not readily available in economically underdeveloped regions of the world and in emergency departments and emergency zones. The magnetic inductive method is an emerging technology that may become a new tool to detect cerebral hemorrhage. In this study, a special phase detector (PD) was developed and used for cerebral hemorrhage detection with the magnetic inductive method. The performance indicated that the PD can achieve phase noise as low as 6 m° and a 4-hour phase drift as low as 30 m° at 21.4 MHz. The noise and drift decreased as the frequency decreased. The performance at 10.7 MHz was slightly better than that of other recently developed phase detection systems. To test the practicality of the system, the PD was used to detect the volume change in a self-made physical model of the brain. The measured phase shift was approximately proportional to the volume change of physiological saline inside the model. The change of the phase shift increased as the volume change and frequency increased. The results are in agreement with those from previous reports. To verify the feasibility of in vivo detection, an autologous blood injection model was established in rabbit brain. The results from the injection group showed a similar trend of increasing phase shift change with increasing injection volume. The average phase shift change induced by a 3-ml injection of blood was 0.502°±0.119°, which was much larger than that of the control group. The measurement system can distinguish a minimal cerebral hemorrhage volume of approximately 0.5 ml. All of the results demonstrated that the PD used with this method can detect cerebral hemorrhage.

Advancements in transmitters and sensors for biological tissue imaging in magnetic induction tomography

Magnetic Induction Tomography (MIT), which is also known as Electromagnetic Tomography (EMT) or Mutual Inductance Tomography, is among the imaging modalities of interest to many researchers around the world. This noninvasive modality applies an electromagnetic field and is sensitive to all three passive electromagnetic properties of a material that are conductivity, permittivity and permeability. MIT is categorized under the passive imaging family with an electrodeless technique through the use of excitation coils to induce an electromagnetic field in the material, which is then measured at the receiving side by sensors. The aim of this review is to discuss the challenges of the MIT technique and summarize the recent advancements in the transmitters and sensors, with a focus on applications in biological tissue imaging. It is hoped that this review will provide some valuable information on the MIT for those who have interest in this modality. The need of this knowledge may speed up the process of adopted of MIT as a medical imaging technology.

A multi-channel magnetic induction tomography measurement system for human brain model imaging

This paper proposes a multi-channel magnetic induction tomography measurement system for biological conductivity imaging in a human brain model. A hemispherical glass bowl filled with a salt solution is used as the human brain model; meanwhile, agar blocks of different conductivity are placed in the solution to simulate the intracerebral hemorrhage. The excitation and detection coils are fixed co-axially, and the axial gradiometer is used as the detection coil in order to cancel the primary field. On the outer surface of the glass bowl, 15 sensor units are arrayed in two circles as measurement parts, and a single sensor unit for cancelling the phase drift is placed beside the glass bowl. The phase sensitivity of our system is 0.204 degrees /S m(-1) with the excitation frequency of 120 kHz and the phase noise is in the range of -0.03 degrees to +0.05 degrees . Only the coaxial detection coil is available for each excitation coil; therefore, 15 phase data are collected in each measurement turn. Finally, the two-dimensional images of conductivity distribution are obtained using an interpolation algorithm. The frequency-varying experiment indicates that the imaging quality becomes better as the excitation frequency is increased.

Sensitivity of a single coil electromagnetic sensor for non-contact monitoring of breathing

We design and analyse a flexible non-contact electromagnetic sensor for monitoring breathing. This paper presents the sensor design and the theoretical model for the expected sensitivity from which we optimize design components. The primary application of this device is in non-invasive sleep monitoring and it has the potential to be useful for detection of both adult and infant apnea. The conductivity changes of the lungs during breathing are monitored by inducing eddy currents within them. The sensor consists of a small coil that acts as both a transmitter and a receiver. The theoretical sensitivity of the sensor to breathing changes is calculated and corresponds within the assumptions of the model to the measured results.

Optimum receiver array design for magnetic induction tomography

Magnetic induction tomography (MIT) is an imaging modality that aims at mapping the distribution of the electrical conductivity inside the body. Eddy currents are induced in the body by magnetic induction and the resulting fields are measured by an array of receiver coils. In MIT, the location of the receivers affects the quality of the image reconstruction. In this paper, a fast deterministic algorithm was applied to obtain optimum receiver array designs for a given specific excitation. The design strategy is based on the iterative exclusion of receiver locations, which yield poor conductivity information, from the space spanning all possible locations until a feasible design is reached. The applicability of "regionally focused" MIT designs that increase the image resolution at a particular region was demonstrated. Currently used design geometries and the corresponding reconstructed images were compared to the images obtained by optimized designs. The eigenvalue analysis of the Hessian matrix showed that the algorithm tends to maintain identical conductivity information content sensed by the receivers. Although the method does not guarantee finding the optimum design globally, the results demonstrate the practical usability of this algorithm in MIT experimental designs.

A new method for electric impedance imaging using an eddy current with a tetrapolar circuit

A new contactless technique for electrical impedance imaging, using an eddy current managed along with the tetrapolar circuit method, is proposed. The eddy current produced by a magnetic field is superimposed on a constant current that is normally used in the tetrapolar circuit method, and thus is used to control the current distribution in the body. By changing the current distribution, a set of voltage differences is measured with a pair of electrodes. This set of voltage differences is used in the image reconstruction of the resistivity distribution. The least square error minimization method is used in the reconstruction algorithm. The principle of this method is explained theoretically. A backprojection algorithm was used to get 2-D images. Based on this principle, a measurement system was developed and model experiments were conducted with a saline-filled phantom. The estimated shape of each model in the reconstructed image was similar to that of the corresponding model. From the results of these experiments, it is confirmed that the proposed method is applicable to the realization of electrical conductivity imaging.

A measurement system and image reconstruction in magnetic induction tomography

Magnetic induction tomography (MIT) is a technique for imaging the internal conductivity distribution of an object. In MIT current-carrying coils are used to induce eddy currents in the object and the induced voltages are sensed with other coils. From these measurements, the internal conductivity distribution of the object can be reconstructed. In this paper, we introduce a 16-channel MIT measurement system that is capable of parallel readout of 16 receiver channels. The parallel measurements are carried out using high-quality audio sampling devices. Furthermore, approaches for reconstructing MIT images developed for the 16-channel MIT system are introduced. We consider low conductivity applications, conductivity less than 5 S m(-1), and we use a frequency of 10 MHz. In the image reconstruction, we use time-harmonic Maxwell's equation for the electric field. This equation is solved with the finite element method using edge elements and the images are reconstructed using a generalized Tikhonov regularization approach. Both difference and static image reconstruction approaches are considered. Results from simulations and real measurements collected with the Philips 16-channel MIT system are shown.

A comparison of sensors for minimizing the primary signal in planar-array magnetic induction tomography

In magnetic induction tomography reducing the influence of the primary excitation field on the sensors can provide a significant improvement in SNR and/or allow the operating frequency to be reduced. For the purposes of imaging, it would be valuable if all, or a useful subset, of the detection coils could be rendered insensitive to the primary field for any excitation coil activated. Suitable schemes which have been previously suggested include the use of axial gradiometers and coil-orientation methods (Bx sensors). This paper examines the relative performance of each method through computer simulation of the sensitivity profiles produced by a single sensor, and comparison of reconstructed images produced by sensor arrays. A finite-difference model was used to determine the sensitivity profiles obtained with each type of sensor arrangement. The modelled volume was a cuboid of dimensions 50 cmx50 cmx12 cm with a uniform conductivity of 1 S m-1. The excitation coils were of 5 cm diameter and the detection coils of 5 mm diameter. The Bx sensors provided greater sensitivity than the axial gradiometers at all depths, other than on the surface layer of the volume. Images produced using a single-planar array were found to contain distortion which was reduced by the addition of a second array.

A new type of gradiometer for the receiving circuit of magnetic induction tomography (MIT)

Magnetic induction tomography (MIT) is a low-resolution imaging modality which aims at the three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the electrical conductivity in objects from alternating magnetic fields. In MIT systems the magnetic field perturbations to be detected are very small when compared to the excitation field (ppm range). The voltage which is induced by the excitation field in the receiver coils must be suppressed for providing sufficient dynamic range. In the past, two very efficient strategies were proposed: adjusted planar gradiometers (PGRAD) and the orientation of a receiver coil with respect to the excitation coil such that the net magnetic flow is zero (zero flow coil, ZFC). In contrast to the PGRAD no voltage is induced in the ZFC by the main field. This is advantageous because two comparatively high voltages in the two gradiometer coils can never be subtracted perfectly, thus leaving a residual voltage which is prone to drift. However, a disadvantage of the ZFC is the higher susceptibility to interferences from far RF sources. In contrast, in the gradiometer such interferences are cancelled to a high degree. We developed a new type of gradiometer (zero flow gradiometer, ZFGRAD) which combines the advantages of ZFC and PGRAD. All three systems were compared with respect to sensitivity and perturbation to signal ratio (PSR) defined as the ratio of the signal change due to a magnetic perturbation field at the carrier frequency and the signal change due to shifting a metallic sphere between two test points. The spatial sensitivity of the three systems was found to be very similar. The PSR of the ZFGRAD was more than 12 times lower than that of the ZFC. Finally, the feasibility of image reconstruction with two arrays of eight excitation coils and eight ZFGRAD, respectively, was shown with a single-step Gauss-Newton reconstructor and simulated measurement data generated for a cylindrical tank with a spherical perturbation. The resulting images show a clear, bright feature at the correct position of the sphere and are comparable to those with PGRAD arrays.

Design and performance of a planar-array MIT system with normal sensor alignment

In this study the performance of a planar array for magnetic induction tomography (MIT) was investigated and the results of measurements to determine the precision and sensitivity of the sensor were undertaken. A planar-array MIT system utilizing flux-linkage minimization for the primary field has been constructed and evaluated. The system comprises 4 printed excitation coils of 4 turns which were shielded, 8 surface-mount inductors of inductance 10 microH as sensor, mounted such that in principle no primary-field flux threads them, and a calibration coil to produce a strong primary field. The excitation current was multiplexed via relays to drive the excitation and reference coils. The noise values were similar in real and imaginary components in the lower frequencies and the factor to which the primary field could be reduced was greatest in the nearest coil. Methods for determining the true real and imaginary components and for flux-linkage minimization for the primary field for variations in channel sensitivities are described and the results of measurements of the system's noise and drift are given. A SNR of 47 dB was observed at 4 MHz when a 0.3 Sm-1 saline filled tank of dimensions 20 cmx20 cmx10 cm was placed centrally over the array. Finally, images were reconstructed from measurements of saline samples in a free space background, with the samples moved past the array in 21 1 cm steps to emulate mechanical scanning of the array. The image reconstruction characteristics of the planar array in conjunction with the reconstruction technique employed are discussed.

Planar gradiometer for magnetic induction tomography (MIT): theoretical and experimental sensitivity maps for a low-contrast phantom

Planar gradiometers (PGRAD) have particular advantages compared to solenoid receiver coils in magnetic induction tomography (MIT) for biological objects. A careful analysis of the sensitivity maps has to be carried out for perturbations within conducting objects in order to understand the performance of a PGRAD system and the corresponding implications for the inverse problem of MIT. We calculated and measured sensitivity maps for a single MIT-channel and a cylindrical tank (diameter 200 mm) with a spherical perturbation (diameter 50 mm) and with conductivities in the physiological range (0.4-0.8 S m(-1)). The excitation coil (EXC) was a solenoid (diameter 100 mm) with its axis perpendicular to the cylinder axis. As receiver a PGRAD was used. Calculations were carried out with a finite element model comparing the PGRAD and a solenoid receiver coil with its axis perpendicular to the excitation coil axis (SC90). The measured and simulated sensitivity maps agree satisfactorily within the limits of unavoidable systematic errors. In PGRAD the sensitivity is zero on the coil axis, exhibiting two local extrema near the receiver and a strong increase of the sensitivity with the distance from the coil axis. In SC90 the sensitivity map is morphologically very similar to that of the PGRAD. The maps are completely different from those known in EIT and may thus cause different implications for the inverse problem. The SC90 can, in principle, replace the mechanically and electrically more complicated PGRAD, however, the immunity to far sources of electromagnetic interference is worse, thus requiring magnetic shielding of the system.