Novel Pulsed Electromagnet Design with Wide-bandgap Power Semiconductor for Low-field Portable MRI System

Motivation: Electromagnets in low-field portable MRI systems offer significant advantages due to the adjustable field strength and straightforward architecture. Nonetheless, the development of main field amplifier for such systems remains an area with scant research. Goal(s): Development of a miniaturized, energy-efficient, and highly controllable driver for electromagnets in portable MRI systems. Approach: A switch-mode hybrid pulsed magnetic field driver based on wide-bandgap power semiconductors is designed and tested. The control scheme is optimized for electromagnet in portable MRI. Results: Preliminary experiments of prototype demonstrate the generation of consistent main magnetic field pulses of 27.44mT by ramping the coil current to 26.5A within 50μs. Impact: This abstract present a novel hybrid main field driver structure designed for electromagnets in portable MRI systems. The circuit leverages the latest wide-bandgap power semiconductors and features small size, light weight, efficient energy utilization, and high controllability.