Metrolab’s new generation of magnetic field camera is based on precise pulsed-wave NMR technology.
The miniaturized probe produces high-density probe arrays, to map any pre-clinical, extremity or whole-body MRI magnet as well as any NMR spectroscopy magnet.
Cameras to map any magnet
Probe-array geometries. The classic Metrolab design – MFC9046 – supports any spherical DSV from 150 mm to 600 mm. The new MFC9146 maps cylindrical DSVs as small as 10 mm in diameter and 28 mm in length.
Extended range and unbeatable precision
Maps magnetic fields from 200 mT to 25.8 T (1 GHz) at a precision of 10 ppb (0.01 ppm).
Ramping then mapping
By including a wide-range probe in the middle of the probe array, the magnet may be followed during ramping and mapped with just one fixture.
High tolerance to field gradient
The robust system searches and detects the NMR signal in a gradient of 1.35 mT/cm in a 1T field (1350 ppm/cm).
Established in 1985, Metrolab Technology SA is a Swiss company based in Geneva. We are the global market leader for the development and manufacture of precision magnetometers, which are used to measure high-intensity magnetic fields to a very high degree of precision.
About the technology
MRI and NMR spectroscopy applications require a highly uniform magnetic field. NMR is the only magnetic measurement technology capable of generating a magnetic field map with a high degree of precision.
“In the development of our new extremity MRI magnet, the choice of the metrology instruments was critical. Precision, reliability and potential to scale-up to production were the key selection parameters, all for a 160 mm DSV! The recently launched MFC9046 from Metrolab is the only NMR-based instrument offering a multiprobe array for this DSV. Based on Pulsed NMR technology, it achieves best in class precision of 10 ppb.
We are proud of our collaboration with Metrolab and to have been the first ones to use such a small Magnetic Field Camera with 14 sensors deployed over 160 mm diameter halfmoon!”
Liu Yu, R&D Manager, Shandong Aoxin Medical Technology Co. LTD, Weifang Shandong, China.
“A primary consideration in building an NMR magnet is to achieve the spatial field uniformity required for high resolution spectroscopy. An as-built magnet, whether HTS or LTS, will rarely achieve the desired level of bare-magnet uniformity and so the magnetic field around the sample zone is mapped and corrected (“shimmed”), in the case of an HTS magnet by careful placement of ferromagnetic elements in the bore of the magnet. The process is iterated until the desired field profile is achieved, typically yielding a field error of no more than a few parts per million, ppm.
This level of resolution in a high background field places significant demands on the mapping tool and since the most precise technology to measure magnetic fields is NMR itself, we employ Metrolab’s MFC2046 NMR magnetic field camera for the task. A small probe array, MFC9146, consisting of an array of NMR sensors is used to map the surface of the target cylindrical volume, allowing rapid and accurate measurement of the local field and providing a dependable basis for the critical shimming operation.”
Donald Pooke, CTO at HTS-110, Lower Hutt, New-Zealand.
