Abstract #0779

Improving the Efficiency of Digitally Controlled Switching Gradient Amplifiers for Driving Different Gradient Insert Coils

Francisco Manuel Martinez-Santiesteban¹, Jian-xiong Wang², Brian K. Rutt¹

¹Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; ²Applied Science Laboratory, GE Healthcare, London, Ontario, Canada

A method of tuning Switching Gradients Amplifiers to drive different gradient insert coils is presented. A systematic search of the global minimum of RMS(V-Drive) improved the efficiency of the amplifiers whereas the error of the gradient fields was reduced by minimizing RMS(I-Error). The tuning method allowed the use of the same gradient amplifiers for ten different coils, with inductances in the range of 200 to 1300 μH and estimated cut-off frequencies between 10 and 125 KHz. We achieved an average improvement of 55% for RMS(V-Drive) and 47% for RMS(I-Error) with respect to the values obtained for default parameter settings.