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Conceptual designs of 1.5 and 3.0 T full-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) magnets using conduction cooled MgB2 superconductor are presented. The sizes, locations, and number of turns in the eight coil bundles are determined using optimization methods that minimize the amount of superconducting wire and produce magnetic fields with an inhomogeneity of less than 10 ppm over a 45 cm diameter spherical volume. MgB2 superconducting wire is assessed in terms of the transport, thermal, and mechanical properties for these magnet designs. Careful calculations of the normal zone propagation velocity and minimum quench energies provide support for the necessity of active quench protection instead of passive protection for medium temperature superconductors such as MgB2. A new ‘active’ protection scheme for medium Tc based MRI magnets is presented and simulations demonstrate that the magnet can be protected. Recent progress on persistent joints for multifilamentary MgB2 wire is presented. Finite difference calculations of the quench propagation and temperature rise during a quench conclude that active intervention is needed to reduce the temperature rise in the coil bundles and prevent damage to the superconductor. Comprehensive multiphysics and multiscale analytical and finite element analysis of the mechanical stress and strain in the MgB2 wire and epoxy for these designs are presented for the first time. From mechanical and thermal analysis of our designs we conclude there would be no damage to such a magnet during the manufacturing or operating stages, and that the magnet would survive various quench scenarios. This comprehensive set of magnet design considerations and analyses demonstrate the overall viability of 1.5 and 3.0 T MgB2 magnet designs.

To reduce the usage of liquid helium in MRI magnets, magnesium diboride (MgB2), a high temperature superconductor, has been considered for use in a design of conduction cooled MRI magnets. Compared to NbTi wires the normal zone propagation velocity (NZPV) in MgB2 is much slower leading to a higher temperature rise and the necessity of active quench protection. The temperature rise, resistive voltage, and NZPV during a quench in a 1.5 T main magnet design with MgB2 superconducting wire was calculated for a variety of wire compositions. The quench development was modeled using the Douglas–Gunn method to solve the 3D heat equation. It was determined that wires with higher bulk thermal conductivity and lower electrical resistivity reduced the hot-spot temperature rise near the beginning of a quench. These improvements can be accomplished by increasing the copper fraction inside the wire, using a sheath material (such as Glidcop) with a higher thermal conductivity and lower electrical resistivity, and by increasing the thermal conductivity of the wire’s insulation. The focus of this paper is on the initial stages of quench development, and does not consider the later stages of the quench or magnet protection.

Main magnets for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are largely constructed with low temperature superconducting material. Most commonly used superconductors for these magnets are niobium-titanium (NbTi). Such magnets are operated at 4.2 K by being immersed in a liquid helium bath for long time operation. As the cost of liquid helium has increased threefold in the last decade and the market for MRI systems is on average increasing by more than 7% every year, there is a growing demand for an alternative to liquid helium. Superconductors such as magnesium-diboride (MgB 2 ) and niobium-tin (Nb 3 Sn) demonstrate superior current carrying quality at higher critical temperatures than 4.2 K. In this article, electromagnetic designs for conduction cooled main magnets over the range of medium field strengths (1.5 T) to ultrahigh field strengths (7.0 T) are presented. These designs are achieved by an improved functional approach coming from a series of developments by the present research group and using properties of the state-of-the-art second generation MgB 2 wires and Nb 3 Sn wires developed by Hyper Tech Research Inc. The MgB 2 magnet designs operated at different field strengths demonstrate excellent homogeneity and shielding properties at an operating temperature of 10 K. At ultrahigh field, the high current density on Nb 3 Sn allowed by the larger magnetic field on wire helps to reduce the superconductor volume in comparison with high field NbTi magnet designs. This allows for a compact magnet design that can operate at a temperature of 8 K. Overall, the designs created show promise in the development of conduction cooled dry magnets that would reduce dependence on helium.

The Prostate Expression Database (PEDB) is a curated relational database and suite of analysis tools designed for the study of prostate gene expression in normal and disease states. Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) and full-length cDNA sequences derived from more than 40 human prostate cDNA libraries are maintained and represent a wide spectrum of normal and pathological conditions. Detailed library information including tissue source, library construction methods, sequence diversity and abundance are available in a library archive. Prostate ESTs are assembled into distinct species groups using the multiple alignment program CAP2 and are annotated with information from the GenBank, dbEST and Unigene public sequence databases. Annotated sequences in PEDB are searched using the BLAST algorithm. The differential expression of each EST species can be viewed across all libraries using a Virtual Expression Analysis Tool (VEAT), a graphical user interface written in Java for intra- and inter-library species comparisons. PEDB may be accessed via the World Wide Web at http://www.mbt.washington.edu/PEDB/