ABOUT US
The MR Engineering Lab is part of the Brain Imaging and Analysis Center at Duke University. Our research primarily involves the development of innovative MRI coil technologies, such as integrated parallel reception, excitation, and shimming (iPRES) coils and integrated RF/wireless (iRFW) coils, to improve the image quality and clinical utility of various MRI applications in the human brain and body, such as functional MRI and diffusion-weighted imaging.
RESEARCH
iPRES
We developed a novel integrated parallel reception, excitation, and shimming (iPRES) coil design that allows RF and DC currents to flow on the same coil elements, enabling MR imaging and localized B0 shimming with a single coil array (Han et al. 2013).
iPRES | brain
We implemented the iPRES coil design into a 32-channel head coil array and showed that it can substantially reduce localized B0 inhomogeneities and image distortions in brain imaging (Truong et al. 2014).
iPRES(N) | body
We developed a novel iPRES(N) coil design with N smaller DC loops per RF coil element, implemented it into an 8-channel body coil array, and showed that it can achieve a more effective localized B0 shimming in abdominal imaging than the iPRES coil design (Darnell et al. 2017).
iPRES-B | brain
We developed a plug-and-play, battery-powered iPRES (iPRES-B) head coil array that does not use any external power supply or subject-specific shim optimization to enable a wider adoption of the iPRES technology in clinical applications (Darnell et al. 2017).
iPRES(N)-A
We developed a novel adaptive iPRES(N) (iPRES(N)-A) coil design using microelectromechanical system switches that can achieve a similar shimming performance as that of the iPRES(N) coil design, while reducing the number of power supplies by a factor N (Darnell et al. 2018).
iPRES | fMRI
We developed a novel iPRES shim optimization method and showed that it can substantially reduce both the distortions and signal loss in the inferior frontal and temporal brain regions, enabling functional MRI in these regions (Willey et al. 2018).
iPRES | breast
We implemented the iPRES coil design into an 8-channel breast coil array and showed that it can substantially reduce localized B0 inhomogeneities and image distortions in diffusion-weighted imaging of the breast (Ma et al. 2018).
iRFW & iPRES-W
We developed novel integrated RF/wireless and wireless iPRES (iPRES-W) coil designs that allow a DC current and RF currents at the Larmor frequency and in a wireless communication band to flow on the same coil, enabling MR imaging, wireless communication, and localized B0 shimming with a single coil (Darnell et al. 2019).
iPRES-W AIR | spinal cord
We integrated the iPRES-W coil design with the AIR coil technology and showed that it can perform wireless localized B0 shimming and substantially reduce image distortions in diffusion tensor imaging of the spinal cord (Cuthbertson et al. 2019).
iRFW
We performed finite element simulations to optimize the far-field gain, directivity, and link budget of an integrated RF/wireless coil within the scanner bore (Bresticker et al. 2019).
dual-stream iPRES-W | brain
We developed a dual-stream iPRES-W coil design and implemented it into a 48-channel head coil array to perform MR imaging, wireless localized B0 shimming, and wireless respiratory monitoring with a single coil array (Cuthbertson et al. 2020).
iRFW | ultrasound
We combined the integrated RF/wireless coil design with an ultrasound-based sensor to enable MR imaging and wireless transmission of ultrasound data for physiological motion monitoring (Willey et al. 2020).
iPRES(N)-A | body
We implemented the iPRES(N)-A coil design into a 32-channel body coil array and showed that it can substantially reduce localized B0 inhomogeneities and image distortions in abdominal imaging (Ma et al. 2020).
iPRES | rat
We numerically optimized the design of an iPRES rat coil array to achieve both a high localized B0 shimming performance and signal-to-noise ratio in rat imaging (Thompson et al. 2020).
intracortical DTI
We investigated the feasibility of using high-resolution diffusion tensor imaging of the cortical gray matter in vivo for the early detection of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease.
PEOPLE
TRONG-KHA TRUONG, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Radiology
trongkha.truong [at] duke.edu
DEAN DARNELL, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Radiology
dean.darnell [at] duke.edu
DEVIN WILLEY
Ph.D. student in Medical Physics
YIXIN MA
Ph.D. student in Medical Physics
JONATHAN CUTHBERTSON
Ph.D. student in Medical Physics
VANI YADAV
M.S. student in Medical Physics
JASMINE CHEN
M.S. student in Medical Physics
DEVON (KARL) OVERSON
M.S. student in Medical Physics
ALLEN W. SONG, Ph.D.
Professor and Director of BIAC
LAB ALUMNI
ZACHARY THOMPSON
M.S. student in Medical Physics
JULIA BRESTICKER
M.S. student in Medical Physics
HUIMIN ZHANG
M.S. student in Medical Physics
Duke Kunshan University
SEBASTIAN LUCE
Summer intern
HONGYUAN WANG
M.S. student in Medical Physics
Duke Kunshan University
PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS
2/24/2021: Congrats to Yixin, Jon, and Jasmine for getting a talk and an e-poster accepted for ISMRM 2021!
1/29/2020: Congrats to Devin, Yixin, Jon, Julia, Zack, and Vani for getting a power pitch, a talk, and two e-posters accepted for ISMRM 2020!
2/7/2019: Congrats to Jon, Julia, Zack, and Devin for getting two e-posters accepted for ISMRM 2019!
9/14/2018: Integrated radio-frequency/wireless coil design for simultaneous MR image acquisition and wireless communication by Darnell D, Cuthbertson J, Robb F, Song AW, and Truong TK is published in Magn Reson Med.
6/16/2018: The team’s work is featured in a GE SIGNA Pulse of MR article at ISMRM 2018.
2/2/2018: Congrats to Jon, Devin, Yixin, Julia, and Huimin for getting a power pitch and two talks accepted for ISMRM 2018!
11/16/2017: Adaptive integrated parallel reception, excitation, and shimming (iPRES-A) with microelectromechanical systems switches by Darnell D, Ma Y, Wang H, Robb F, Song AW, and Truong TK is published in Magn Reson Med.
1/30/2017: Congrats to Devin, Jon, Yixin, and Sebastian for getting two e-posters accepted for ISMRM 2017!
5/13/2016:
Integrated parallel reception, excitation, and shimming (iPRES) with multiple shim loops per radio-frequency coil element for improved B0 shimming by Darnell D, Truong TK, and Song AW is published in Magn Reson Med.
9/28/2014: Integrated RF/shim coil array for parallel reception and localized B0 shimming in the human brain by Truong TK, Darnell D, and Song AW is published in NeuroImage.
AWARDS
10/9/2020: Congrats to Vani for receiving a Dean’s Research Award for Master’s Students!
7/24/2020: Congrats to Jon and Vani for receiving a Magna Cum Laude Merit Award at ISMRM 2020!
2/11/2020: Congrats to Devin, Yixin, Zack, and Vani for receiving Educational and New Entrant Stipends for ISMRM 2020!
5/12/2019: Congrats to Julia for receiving the Academic and Research Excellence Award from the Medical Physics Program!
2/25/2019: Congrats to Jon, Julia, and Zack for receiving Educational and New Entrant Stipends for ISMRM 2019!
7/14/2018: Congrats to Julia for receiving a Best Poster Presentation Award at GRS/GRC 2018!
6/2/2018: Congrats to Devin, Jon, and Julia for receiving Magna Cum Laude Merit Awards at ISMRM 2018!
5/13/2018: Congrats to Dean, Yixin, and Jon for receiving the Director’s Award for Exemplary Service, Teaching Assistantship Award, and Academic and Research Excellence Award, respectively, from the Medical Physics Program!
2/15/2018: Congrats to Devin, Julia, Yixin, and Jon for receiving Educational and New Entrant Stipends for ISMRM 2018!
5/14/2017: Congrats to Yixin for receiving the Academic and Research Excellence Award from the Medical Physics Program!
4/24/2017: Congrats to Jon and Yixin for receiving the 1st place for Best Poster Presentation Award in the MR Engineering study group at ISMRM 2017!
4/17/2017: Congrats to Yixin for receiving the inaugural Karen Wrenn Graduate Fellowship in Alzheimer’s Disease Research!
2/16/2017: Congrats to Yixin, Jon, and Devin for receiving New Entrant Stipends for ISMRM 2017!
LAB NEWS
9/1/2020: Welcome Devon (Karl) Overson to the lab!
8/5/2020: Welcome Jasmine Chen to the lab!
3/20/2020: Congrats to Zack for successfully defending his M.S. scholarship project!
12/1/2019: Congrats to Dean for his promotion to Assistant Professor!
7/1/2019: Welcome Vani Yadav to the lab!
4/1/2019: Congrats to Julia for successfully defending her M.S. thesis!
9/24/2018: Welcome Zachary Thompson to the lab!
3/30/2018: Congrats to Huimin, Devin, and Jon for successfully defending their M.S. theses!
2/14/2018: Congrats to Jon and Devin for being accepted into the Medical Physics Ph.D. Program!
9/6/2017: Welcome Julia Bresticker to the lab!
5/10/2017: Welcome Huimin Zhang to the lab!
12/1/2016: Congrats to Dean for his promotion to BIAC faculty and Medical Instructor of Radiology!
9/20/2016: Welcome Devin Willey, Jonathan Cuthbertson, and Yixin Ma to the lab!
5/31/2016: Welcome Sebastian Luce to the lab!
3/23/2016: Congrats to Hongyuan for successfully defending his M.S. thesis!
6/30/2015: Welcome Hongyuan Wang to the lab!