Characterisation of a new, commercial, partially open-source RF amplifier for low field applications

Motivation: Commercially available open source electronics will help lower the cost and increase accessibility of MRI scanners. Goal(s): Here we characterise the performance of a commercially available, partially open source RF amplifier designed for low field (<100 mT) MRIApproach: We examine the gain linearity and frequency stability of the RF amplifier and examine the behaviour of the RF amplifier when transmitting in to a 50 ohm load and RF coil. Results: The RF amplifier performs well and has sufficient power for low field applications, making it an attractive open source option for low field MRI systems. Impact: Commercially available open-source electronics will help fundamentally address the cost and access issues hampering the wide step adoption of MRI in low resource settings. In this work we characterise a commercial, partially open-source RF amplifier for low field MRI.