MRI: Basic Principles and Applications

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is currently doing breast MRI contrast agent or interesting in starting. The first several chapters are directed toward understanding the physics behind breast MR and are easy to understand even by a non-physicist. The second half of the book turns toward protocols, safety and optimizing breast MRI techniques. The book is clearly written and has changed my clinical practice. I am now performing studies that use magnet time more efficiently and with improved image quality. This book is valuable to both the beginner and the experienced breast imager. It is particularly helpful to radiologists who want to improve their breast MRI protocols. I also recommend this book to any technologist who wants to know more about breast MRI.

This fifth edition of MRI Basic Principles and Applications presents the fundamental concepts of MRI in a clear and concise manner, minimizing the mathematical formalism yet providing a foundation to understand the results that are obtained with today’s clinical scanners. This book:

Accessible introductory guide from renowned teachers in the benchtop nmr field
Provides a concise yet thorough introduction for MRI focusing on fundamental physics, pulse sequences, and clinical applications without presenting advanced math
Takes a practical approach, including up-to-date protocols, and supports technical concepts with thorough explanations and illustrations
Highlights sections that are directly relevant to radiology board exams
Presents new information on the latest scan techniques and applications including 3 Tesla whole body scanners, safety issues, and the nephrotoxic effects of gadolinium-based contrast media
This is an ideal resource to help radiologists prepare for their exams and understand the underlying MR physics principles as efficiently as possible.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is an integral component of medical imaging. Whilst new measurement techniques and applications continue to be developed nearly thirty years after the initial clinical scanners were installed the basic principles behind the measurement techniques remain as true today as then. 

Handbook of MRI Scanning, Love this book!

First let me give you a little background. I am an Bench-top NMR tech with about 1 years experience in the field. As many mri techs have learned that are new to the field, when you first get out there on your own, its kinda scary. Unlike most xray techs who have a few other techs around in the department when you have questions, most MRI contrast agent are by themselves. Anyways, this book was my best friend the first few months of my new job. I happen to work on a ge machine, which is what this book is based off of. Thats not to say if you work on a siemens or toshiba that this wouldnt help, it still shows how to set up the slices, how to angle and gives you other technical parameters, just if youre working on a ge, that would be ideal for this book. I love how it shows you the actual slices and where they should be placed, what the actual scan should look like and different views of different planes. Also I love that it gives you a little anatomy diagram next to each part that youre potentially scanning. Great book for new techs.

Overall, this book is great for anyone learning MRI as a tech, or for someone coming from a research/physicist background and needs to learn the anatomy-specific scan protocols. An experienced expert MRI tech would probably have a good handle on 95% of this book, but for anyone not at that level, it is a great reference and learning resource.

**Description**
This comprehensive manual on MRI details protocols, image acquisition, and related anatomy.

**Purpose**
This book provides technologists and students with not only a baseline for MR image acquisition, but also a standard of quality that should be consistently duplicated to provide the healthcare team with quality diagnostic images. The book carries out the authors' clearly defined objectives.

**Audience**
This is a must read for any student or beginning technologist. It does a great job of providing a practical, realistic approach to MRI that avoids confusing physics and equations. Experienced technologists will appreciate the suggested scan protocols, with technical parameters for both 1.5 and the more advanced 3T magnets.

**Features**
The manual details over 50 MRI protocols, the pulse sequences of each, and the suggested parameters for quality baseline imaging. Also valuable are anatomy diagrams for each protocol with appropriate labeling and a table of technical parameters for all scan protocols for both 1.5 and 3T magnets. In addition, blank tables are provided for readers to modify their site protocols to accommodate the capabilities of their specific equipment. The best feature of this manual is its simplicity. The only shortcoming for me is the duplication of information from one section to another, but this certainly does not detract from the book's quality and usefulness.

**Assessment**
This manual would be invaluable for students or beginning technologists and a great reference for seasoned technologists. I have never seen another book that packed as much useful and simplistic information into such a small package.

This is a great reference book that is so far unique in the collection of MRI books out there as a spiral-bound have-next-to-the-scanner book. The next nearest book out there is Handbook of MRI Technique, though this book is much more detailed in both sequences and specific anatomy areas. This book lists out the common pulse sequences for both 1.5T and 3T, and also displays basic scan plane prescriptions. There are also line drawings of the anatomy of interest, similar to the drawings found in Sectional Anatomy for Imaging Professionals. There is also valuable information found at the beginning of each chapter which describes some of the rationale for some of the PSD selection, coils, contrast, artifacts, etc...
The charts in the book list actual parameters and imaging options for each sequence, with an additional blank chart in each section meant for reader to write in their own site's standard sequences. With customized saved protocols in most scanning software, I question how useful the blank tables are, other than for general sequence listings.
In future editions of this book, I would like to see a column for "Frequency direction" with it filled in as A/P, R/L, S/I. The listed "SPF swap phase & freq" can still be ambiguous and sometimes coil dependent. Other improvements I would make would be graphical views of sat band positions, listing of an estimated scan time per sequence, and also a brief discussion on the use of options like ZIP2, ZIP512, sequential, etc... Also, a flag for scans which are meant typically for a breath-hold would be nice.

How do Understand MRI Pulse Sequences

I believe it will become the 'gold standard' text for people involved in MR research or applications because of its clear and concise descriptions of most aspects of MRI.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is among the most important medical imaging techniques available today. There is an installed base of approximately 15,000 MRI scanners worldwide. Each of these scanners is capable of running many different "pulse sequences", which are governed by physics and engineering principles, and implemented by software programs that control the MRI hardware. To utilize an MRI scanner to the fullest extent, a conceptual understanding of its pulse sequences is crucial. This book offers a complete guide that can help the scientists, engineers, clinicians, and technologists in the field of MRI understand and better employ their scanner.

This book is an excellent overview and reference for MRI pulse sequences. It has been recommended to me as a reference by several scientists, and anyone who works in the MRI contrast agent field should consider buying this book -- even if you are not a pulse programmer, this book will give you a much better understanding of different sequences and which one may be most appropriate for your research application. It does a good job of describing sequences in a qualitative as well as mathematical manner.

One slight problem with the book is that it is oriented towards just MRI physics, and thus if one wants to sit down at an actual scanner and try to program or implement the sequence, one might not have enough specific details about hardware-related issues (such as gradient duty cycles, RF power calibration, SAR, memory allocation, etc) to actually implement a sequence. Thus, the book is best supplemented with a review of current literature, as well as manufacturer documentation or examples of previously written pulse sequences.

I got to know this good handbook from an international conference. It was sold out in few days during the exhibition period. I strongly recommend every Bench-top NMR guy own at least one copy of it. ^__^

Simplified Theory, Applications and Examples for Organic Chemistry and Structural Biology

I've always found NMR to be extremely difficult but when I got this book, it really helped me to understand how to read and analyze NMR spectra. I also had the great honor of having the author of this book as my professor recently and the guy really knows his stuff and is great at conveying his knowledge. So if you never understood NMR or don't really understand it that much, or just want a great book about NMR, this is the book for you and you can trust in the fact that the author knows his stuff. I know this book is costly, but trust me you won't regret it at all!

This book along with "Structure Determination of Organic Compounds" by Pretsch, Buhlmann, and Affolter and maybe "200 and More NMR experiments" by Berger and Braun are currently the only NMR books worth owning. Skip the rest.

Initially I wanted to write a review for this book after I finish the whole book. However, since the publication of this book, I have noticed that nobody has ever written a review. I have only finished approximately 400 pages but I want to let people to know that this is clearest exposition on modern nmr spectroscopy I have ever come across. I have read a number of nmr books. These include the following

J.D. Roberts "ABC of FT NMR"
T. Claridge "High Resolution NMR spectroscopy in organic chemistry"
J. Sanders " Modern NMR spectroscopy"
H. Friebolin "Basic One- and Two-Dimenionsal NMR"

None of the above is as good as this book. The one that comes close to this is Friebolin's book. However, it is not as detail and does not cover topics such as operator formalism and density matrix. This book also covers the basic theoretical principles and presented in a very lucid way. I enjoy reading this book tremendously.

Dec 14, 2009. It has been almost 2 years since I wrote the initial review. Since then, I have the opportunity to read the whole book a second time. My opinion of this book remains the same. If you really want to understand NMR, you cannot go wrong with this book.

I've been working with NMR analyzer for over 11 years and over the years have acquired numerous books on the subject. This book is hands down the best on the subject. The author clearly explains everything, where other books throw up a graph/spectrum/equation and expect you to figure it out magically at times. Areas I've been confused on for years suddenly all make sense.

Understanding NMR Spectroscopy

Having spent several years as a graduate student working with solid state NMR spectroscopy, I have had ample time to survey the array of NMR texts on the market. James Keeler's text is one of the best I have found, combining coherent writing with a level of depth sufficient to lay the foundation of a graduate education. I would recommend it to anyone looking to study the practical aspects of NMR spectroscopy.

Probably the best book I read on NMR theory. Clear and easy to understand, you just need to work through every example and problem. I used to teach out of "NMR Spectroscopy Explained: Simplified Theory, Applications and Examples for Organic Chemistry and Structural Biology" by Niel Jacobsen but this book far surpasses it.

Dr. Keeler's is called "Understanding NMR spectroscopy", and that is exactly what it will help you do. He makes very few assumptions about previous knowledge of math and quantum physics. He explains abstract concepts using good analogies. I have tried to read multiple NMR textbooks, and this is by far the most readable... Excellent work Dr. Keeler.... However you should realise what this book is NOT. It is not about how to record and analyze bench-top NMR data and it is not an advanced textbook, but aimed for people new to the field with need to understand how an NMR experiment works.

Do not be intimidated by the math. All the math, except matrix, that is needed can basically be found in Appendix A. There is nothing complex in the math used throughout the book. All the mathematical manipulations are presented in a step by step fashion. The book deals mainly with the most popular nmr techniques such as COSY, DQF-COSY and NOE. Because the book focuses on the theoretical aspects of nmr, it hardly touches on any spectrum interpretations. Sometimes, I feel the book a little bit dry. Virtual coupling, an important concept in TOCSY, is not discussed in Keeler's book. However, do not get me wrong. This is a book I enjoy reading very much. The chapters on relaxation and coherence transfer pathway, phase cycle and pulsed of field gradient are well presented.

Dr James Keeler is a Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of Selwyn College. In addition to being actively involved in the development of new NMR techniques, he is also responsible for the undergraduate chemistry course, and is Editor-In-chief of Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry. Dr Keeler is well-known for his clear and accessible exposition of NMR spectroscopy.

Spin Dynamics: Basics of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

For those studying biomolecules with NMR, the unofficial bible is of course the maroon colored Cavanagh book. Though this is an excellent book, it isn't the best suited book for beginners. This is where Levitt's book comes in: this is by far the kindest introduction to NMR that I have seen, with heavy emphasis on understanding the concepts first and the formalism later. The book is full of useful diagrams, detailed analogies, and exercises for the reader where other books only show equations. So borrows someone's Cavanagh first, and if you get stuck after 20 pages then order yourself a copy of Levitt and you won't be disappointed. If you already have studied NMR and are looking at how to apply it to proteins, then Cavanagh should suit you fine.

This book could simply be stated as an excellent attempt to introduce the foundations of NMR. It is a very good primer on all theoretical aspects that are essential to an understanding of the subject.
It offers a methodical, step-by-step approach. Useful tools and consistent terminology are the most attracting feature of this volume. It is well-illustrated; and controversial issues are highlighted in the "Notes" sections at the end of each chapter. It has illustrative problems at the end of each chapter, with solutions provided at the end.
Interestingly, the appendix covers many important aspects that are needed at a more advanced stage. Useful tools for the understanding of NMR are developed at appropriate stages. These include: the box notation for coherences, populations, density matrices and transitions; the origin of NMR spectra from individual coherence terms in the density matrix; origin of 2-D NMR signals as well as many important concepts in Fourier Transform NMR are described. The origins of relaxation enjoy a very readable and simplistic approach in the last chapter.
Whenever simplistic approximations are used, the author never claims of completeness or rigour. Distinction is made between terms that are physically correct and terms that are sometimes misleading, but enjoy widespread use in the NMR spectroscopy convention. The essential tools in quantum mechanics are outlined, product operator descriptions are used frequently and repetitively, that enhances understanding and provides more practice. Pictorial representations have been given where possible, a view-point beginners like myself find very useful.
One drawback, is a careful side-lining of the very important technique of using pulse-field gradients, although their cousin technique, named pulse-cycles is quite elaborately explained. I hope, the next issue of the book would also cover up this important technique.

A good NMR spectroscopy Book

I must say that the more I read this book, the more I like it. I read the book from cover to cover. Some new materials have been added in the second edition. A new chapter on product operator analysis of spin systems such as AX2 and AX3. These additions make it possible to discuss topics such as DEPT and APT techniques. Another addition is the discussion on double quantum spectroscopy. The chatper on relaxation had been completely re-organized. The use of 2 colors makes the illustraions much better. All the other chapters are the same as the first edition.

When I reviewed the first edition, I did not look at the problems at the end of each chapter. This time I looked at the problems at the end of each chapter and went through each of them. The problems are not tricky. However, they do reinforce what is discussed in the text and are very informative. The spin evolution due to offset and couplings in a pulse sequence can make the mathematics confusing on first reading. Attempting the problems helps one to understand much better. Anyone who seriously wishes in understanding NMR should attempt all the problems at the end of each chapter. As I said in my previous review, the mathematical techniques that are used throughout the book are fairly elementary. Any person with training in freshman mathematics should have no problems in understanding the mathematics. The author presented all the mathematics in a step by step fashion. The use of quantum mechanics is minimal. 90% of mathematics is operator algebra and the use of trigonometric identities. These two mathematical techniques are used repeatedly to understand pulse sequences and spectral appearances of common 2-D techniques such as COSY, HSQC, HMBC and NOESY.It is amazing that such simple mathematical techniques can lead one to understand so much about NMR spectroscopy. If you understand what is in the text, you should have no difficulties in working out the problems at the end of each chapter. The solution manual to the problems can be downloaded from the web and is extremely helpful.

Although I have not completely finished reading Levitt's book, "Spin Dynamics", I have read over 400 pages. I must say that I like this book more. The approaches of these two books are very different. I feel that this book is more coherent. Levitt did not present the mathematics in a step by step fashion like this book. I am not saying that Levitt's book is bad, it is just that this book is better.

Compared with Neil Jacobsen's book, "NMR Spectroscopy Explained", it is hard to decide which is a better book. Jacobsen's book has more material but it costs much more (>$100). However, there are areas that Jacobsen's book does not cover very well. The chapter on relaxation in Jacobsen book is relatively light. There is only one paragraph on chemical shift anisotropy. Keeler's book gives a very thorough mathematical treatment on relaxation due to dipolar-dipolar interaction and chemical shift anisotropy. Whereas Jacobsen's book has many organic chemistry examples, Keeler's book mainly deals with mathematical aspect of NMR using operator algebra. There are no exercise at the end of each chapter in Jacobsen's book. If you just want to buy one NMR book, I would recommend Jacobsen's because it covers most of the stuff in Keeler's book and has more. As far as clarity in the exposition of the subject of NMR spectroscopy is concerned, there are very few books that can rival these two books. My recommendation is to have both.

If you have the first edition, I do not think you will regret if you purchase the second edition. The Kindle edition is now available and is only $30. I went through the Kindle edition on Amazon.com, the electronic edition is as good as the print copy.

NMR ANALYZER FACTORY AND FIELD INSTALLATION SYSTEM INTEGRATION TEST

The tests check the basic functionality of the magnet and RF components of the NMR instrument and allow the system to be brought up to the optimum operating conditions for on-line operation

Test Bench

• System under Test, i.e. complete assembly of NEMA enclosed NMR system with the appropriate ‘Process probe’ installed inside the Magnet and connected to the sample system  pipes.
• All units connected after insuring that all the internal boards (in the PC and the Shim box) are plugged in well and software is installed properly.
• Remote computer configured to run the NMR analyzer as a client of the NMR system under test.

Initial Steps

•     Check wiring and power – trace wiring per schematics.
•      Power up system – electric and air.
•      Check power distribution to system – Barber-Coleman temperature control setup (including alarm relay), LED’s on all the NMR components and fans on all components.
•      Check system safety features – purge system, gas detector (requires butane gas source), and alarms.
•      Check that all system documentation is present and that serial numbers of all components (NMR and enclosure) are correct.
•      Attach sample system (1/4” loop with peristaltic).
•      Check A/C and heaters on enclosure. Make sure that the left A/C is configured to run non-stop.
•      Allow system to equilibrate for 24 hours – running ‘Heater diagnostics’ as system settles.
•      Determine that system is stable and ready for steady state operation.
•      Insert water into the probe through the sample system pipes.

System Software and Configuration

2) NMR System Computer Settings:

Users and Password – Make sure that the same user is logged on the System Computer and the Remote Computer.

dcomcnfg setup–

Run dcomcnfg (Start->run->dcomcnfg)

Find the name “NMRServer” in the applications’ list.

In the properties menu verify that the Program location is on this computer, and the identity is set to “Interactive User”

PcAnyWhere configuration under NT– Make sure that the Computer is set as Network NetBios host, with the right Username and Password. Verify that PcAnyWhere is set to run automatically as an NT Service. Reboot the computer and check if it is running automatically.

NMR software components – Run each of the following software and verify that it functions properly:

• Shim Test – Verify that the Shim box is connected to COM5. Run ShimBoxTest read data from all coils, run quick test, accurate test and address test.
• Heater Test – Verify that the Heater is connected to COM1. Run Heater diagnostic Program and make sure you can read data from the heater.
• Diagnostic – Run the Diagnostic program with Magnet test configuration and verify that it is running properly.
• Lab NMR – Run the Lab NMR program and check the lock, the shimming routines.
• Process NMR – Run the Process NMR program and verify that the ‘Software plug’ is installed and detected by the software.

Serial COM setting and communication –

Modem – Connect a phone cable, set pcAnywhere to run temporarily as a modem host, and dial from another computer. After communication is established, disconnect and set pcAnywhere back as a network host.

FieldPoint – Verify that the Power Supply is connected to COM6. Make sure that in the SampleControl.INI the device is set to FieldPoint. RunLabNMR, add valves commands to the ‘Event Table’, and make sure that every valve can be operated from the software.

Modbus – Verify that the Power Supply is connected to COM7. Make sure in ProcessNMR.INI that the DCS type is set to Modbus. RunProcessNMR. From the Modbus Configuration Dialog Box – Write data to the PLC and read it back to verify it was written OK.

3) Remote computer Settings:

Users and Password – Make sure that the same user is logged on the System Computer and the Remote Computer.

dcomcnfg setup–

Run dcomcnfg (Start->run->dcomcnfg)

Find the name “NMRServer” in the Applications’ list.

In the properties menu verify that the Program Location is On this computer, and the identity is set to “Interactive User”

PcAnyWhere configuration – Make sure that the Computer is set as a modem host, with the right User Name and Password. Verify that PcAnyWhere is set to run automatically as an NT Service. Reboot the computer and check if it is running automatically.

NMR software components – Run each of the following software and verify that it function properly:

• Shim Test – Run ShimBoxTest read data from all coils, run quick test, accurate test and address test.
•   Heater Test – Run Heater diagnostic Program and make sure you can read data from the heater.
•   Diagnostic – Run the Diagnostic program with Magnet test configuration and verify that it is running properly.
•   Lab NMR – Run the Lab NMR program and check the lock, the shimming routines.
•   Process NMR – Run the Process NMR program and verify that the Software plug is installed and detected by the software.

Serial COM setting and communication –

Modem – Connect a phone cable, set PcAnyWhere to run as a modem host, and dial from another computer

Modbus – Verify that the Modicon PLC to COM 2. Make sure in ProcessNMR.INI that the DCS type is set to Modbus. Run ProcessNMR.

From the Modbus Configuration Dialog Box – Write data to the PLC and read it back to verify it was written OK.