New developments in RF transmission for MRI
Hi, my name is Laura Sacolick and I have been working in the Imaging Technology (ImT) lab at GE Global Research in Munich since mid-2008. Currently I am working on the joint Parallel Transmit project between Global Research and GE Healthcare. It is a large, diverse, multi-center project looking into new developments in RF transmission for MRI systems.
Some of the first work in Parallel Transmit project was done here starting in 2006 and more than 20 people have since contributed in all aspects of the work from RF simulations to clinical applications specialists to pulse sequence developers. I can pick up a phone and call a site scientist in Japan, or a coil factory engineer in Cleveland, a recon programmer in Bangalore, or a marketing specialist in Bavaria for help with many aspects of this project—which makes it a very interesting work day.
In June 2009 we filed the patent ID 855 – Bloch-Siegert B1 mapping. In MRI, a radio-frequency field is used to manipulate nuclei in the magnetic field of the scanner. The nuclei then produce the RF echoes used to reconstruct images. To produce a good image, you need a uniform RF field- otherwise the image has bright and dark areas, and other artifact problems. Experimental methods to image the RF field formerly were very slow – several minutes per scan. This patent describes a new method to obtain RF field maps based on the Bloch-Siegert shift. This is an RF-dependent nuclear magnetic resonance effect that originally was theorized by physicists in the 1950s, but afterwards had been largely forgotten. An equal quality RF field map with this new method takes only a few seconds.
Bloch-Siegert mapping has spread quickly to become the dominant method for RF field mapping across all GE MRI development sites. For the first time, we can quickly and easily obtain RF field maps in any body location. This has led to many new ideas for redesigning RF coils for better image quality- some are already in the product development stage. This method will likely be an integral part of any future parallel transmit MRI systems.
Here is a picture of me with another scientist in the Imaging organization, Ileana Hancu.
Merfeld named to NY Battery & Energy Storage Technology board
The New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology (NY-BEST) Consortium held its inaugural annual meeting last month. At this meeting, Glen Merfeld, manager of the Chemical Energy Systems Laboratory, was elected to a two-year term on the NY-BEST board of directors. Glen’s team has played a foundational role in advancing the sodium metal halide battery technology that is now the basis for GE’s new battery business. Their efforts include electrochemistry developments for novel battery technologies to enable the electrification of transportation, including GE’s Hybrid Locomotive, as well as for improved stationary power quality in potential applications ranging from grid utility, to renewables, to uninterrupted power supplies. Glen worked closely with NYSERDA in the planning stages of the NY-BEST consortium, and is a strong advocate for building collaborations between New York Businesses, Universities and National Laboratories to advance technology and to promote a pipeline of talented scientists and engineers.
OLED lighting demonstration prototypes
This week our lighting business unit will be showing OLED lighting demonstration prototypes at a big lighting tradeshow in Germany. This is really exciting for the OLED research team here at GE Global Research as it marks the transition of OLED lighting from an idea that us crazy scientists have been working on to a potential product that our business team has been perfecting. The prototypes are really cool and will be great in high-end applications. Meanwhile we’re still working here to improve the performance so that OLEDs can one day impact every-day lighting.
American Academy of Forensic Science annual conference
I just came back from the American Academy of Forensic Science’s annual conference held this year in Seattle Washington. I was there to present some of our work on facial reconstruction based on CT imagery. While I was listening to a number of the anthropology talks, it became clear to me that many of the imaging technologies developed here at GE have a critical role to play in forensic science. Here are a couple of examples of what I mean.
A large number of the remains of soldiers from past conflicts (Vietnam, Korea, WWII) are to this date still unidentified. However, it turns out that many soldiers were routinely screened with X-Ray machines for the purposes of detecting tuberculosis. By comparing X-Ray images taken 50 years ago with photographs of chest cavity bones, a correct identification can be made!
Another example of an imaging modality that has been put to good forensic use is Ultra Sound. For specific populations, forensic scientists need accurate flesh depth measurements for various parts of the face. To this end a number of anthropologists are now using ultra-sound to calculate skin to bone distances at specific points on the face in order to generate these statistical models.
Recently the American Academy of Science has issued a report that questions the validity of a large number of methods currently used by the forensic sciences. The report calls for significant increases in research funding so that proper validation and scientific rigor can be achieved. I am sure that GE has a role to play in this important endeavor!
Congratulations to Jim Cella
A number of my colleagues in CTMC attended the ACS meeting in San Francisco to participate in a symposium honoring our colleague Jim Cella. This ACS meeting happens to be the same one that another one of my colleagues, Bob Perry, was at to announce his CO2 scrubber project!
Larry Lewis provided a very nice summary of the symposium honoring Jim Cella – I am including Larry’s summary below. Photos of the event were also taken by Daniel Brunelle and a few are included here.
On Monday afternoon, March 22, 2010 I attended the symposium at the national American Chemical Society Meeting in San Francisco in honor of my friend and colleague, Jim Cella. Jim had earned the ACS award in Industrial Chemistry. The symposium brought together lots of old friends and colleagues, all special to Jim’s life and career.
Jim McGrath from Virginia Tech, spoke first and gave a retrospective of his work in polymer chemistry. The two Jims worked together on many projects over the years. Not only did Jim McGrath grow up nearby to Niskayuna, but his daughter Barbie worked at GE Global Research for several years too. Next up was Dan Brunelle, retired Chief Chemist and former national award winner in organic chemistry. Dan described his work where he first employed phase transfer catalysis. Dan’s catalyst work led to many significant breakthroughs in polymer synthesis for which he is now well known.
One thing Jim Cella and I share is a love of baseball and that link was also relevant in the next speaker, Professor Xavier Creary of Notre Dame. “X” as Jim calls him played baseball with him at Seton Hall and the two chemists also went to Ohio State for grad school together.
Kelly Chichak from Global Research worked closely with Jim on polymers for organic light emitting diodes, so it was fitting that Kelly gave a talk about this work.
I also worked closely with Jim Cella. We had offices next to each other and shared a lab. I like to say I did my post doc in organic chemistry with Professor Cella. So naturally I spoke about my OLED chemistry, inspired by Cella. Finally Jim spoke about his life and career. It was a moving lecture we will all remember.
Visitors to the event also included Greg Chambers our retired Global Technology Leader and Jon Rich, now president of Momentive Silicones.
On Tuesday night the ACS National award banquet finished the awards festivities. The black tie affair, attend by hundreds of science luminaries recognized all the national winners including Jim (see attached photos).
Congratulations to Jim on his award, his retirement and to Cella Bistro, the family restaurant in Schenectady.
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