Purpose To characterize peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) of an asymmetric head-only gradient coil that is compatible with a commercial high-channel-count receive-only array. Methods Two prototypes of an asymmetric head-only gradient coil set, with 42-cm inner diameter, were constructed for brain imaging at 3T with maximum performance specifications of up to 85 mT/m and 708 T/m/s. 24 volunteer tests were performed to measure PNS thresholds with the transverse (X, left/right; Y, anterior/posterior) gradient coils of both prototypes. 14 volunteers were also tested for the Z-gradient PNS in the second prototype, and were additionally scanned with high-slew-rate EPI immediately after the PNS tests. Results For both prototypes, the Y-gradient PNS threshold was markedly higher than the X-gradient. The Z-gradient threshold was intermediate between those for the X- and Y-coils. Out of the 24 volunteer subjects, only two experienced Y-gradient PNS at 80 mT/m, 500 T/m/s. All volunteers underwent the EPI scan without PNS when the readout direction was set to A/P. Conclusion Measured PNS characteristics of asymmetric head-only gradient coil prototypes indicate that such coils, especially in the A/P direction, can be used for fast EPI readout in high-performance neuroimaging scans with substantially reduced PNS concerns compared to conventional whole-body gradient coils.

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In Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT), we apply patterns of currents on a set of electrodes at the external boundary of an object, measure the resulting potentials at the electrodes, and, given the aggregate data set, reconstruct the complex conductivity and permittivity within the object. It is possible to maximize sensitivity to internal conductivity changes by simultaneously applying currents and measuring potentials on all electrodes but this approach also maximizes sensitivity to changes in impedance at the interface. We have therefore developed algorithms to assess contact impedance changes at the interface as well as to efficiently and simultaneously reconstruct internal conductivity/permittivity changes within the body. We use simple linear algebraic manipulations, the generalized SVD, and a dual-mesh finite-element-based framework to reconstruct images in real time. We are also able to efficiently compute the linearized reconstruction for a wide range of regularization parameters and to compute both the Generalized Cross-Validation (GCV) parameter as well as the L-curve, objective approaches to determining the optimal regularization parameter, in a similarly efficient manner. Results are shown using data from a normal subject and from a clinical ICU patient, both acquired with the GE GENESIS prototype EIT system, demonstrating significantly reduced boundary artifacts due to electrode drift and motion artifact.

In this paper, we describe and assess feasibility of instrumentation and algorithms for detecting bleeding due to hemorrhagic strokes and traumatic brain injury using electrical impedance tomography, a novel biomedical diagnostic modality in which the body is probed noninvasively with generally imperceptible alternating currents applied in patterns to a set of electrodes placed in contact with the skin. We focus on the GENESIS instrument developed by GE Global Research and on the achievability of our goal to detect a bleed in the center of the head with a volume of several ml. Our main topic is compensation for the large changes in voltages that tend to occur when the electrodes are in contact with biological media, specifically either human subjects or with vegetable matter proxies which seem to exhibit the same 'drift' phenomenon. We show that these changes in voltages can be modeled by assuming that each electrode is attached to the body via a discrete complex impedance whose value is time-varying and describe how this discrete component value can be estimated and largely compensated-for. We compare this discrete model with changes in contact impedances estimated using the complete electrode model showing that the two models are roughly comparable in their ability to explain the data from a single human subject experiment with electrodes attached to the head. In a simulation study, we demonstrate that it is possible to detect a small bleed in the center of the head even in the case of large changes in electrode impedances, which can be treated as nuisance parameters.

We report an Electrical Impedance Tomography device capable of detecting gravity-induced regional ventilation changes in real-time without averaging or using a contrast medium. Changes in lung ventilation are demonstrated in right and left lateral decubitus position and compared to those seen in an upright and supine normal subject.