12 Vibration in MRI Scanners

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology is one of the most significant medical research and clinical diagnostic advancements of the last 50 years. MRI allows clinicians and researchers to obtain detailed pictures from the depths of a living body in a completely non-intrusive manner and is thereby changing the delivery of health care and medical research worldwide. However, as discussed in Chapter 11, there are significant limitations. In this chapter, the vibrations generated (primarily by the gradient coil) during the imaging process are described, measured, and modeled. The chapter includes vibration measurements (modal and in situ) that have been done to characterize the vibrations that are generated, modeling (computational and analytical) methods used to predict the dynamic behavior, techniques currently being used to reduce the vibrations, and the link between vibration and acoustic noise in MRI scanners.