阅读说明：本技术 一种核磁共振仪器的发射相位校准系统及方法 (emission phase calibration system and method of nuclear magnetic resonance instrument ) 是由 李正刚 朱天雄 宋侃 于 2019-08-23 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种核磁共振仪器的发射相位校准系统及方法,所述系统包括控制软件,所述控制软件连接n个发射接收通道,n个发射接收通道分别连接到NMR探头的各个通道。各发射接收通道均包括有FPGA控制器,FPGA控制器经依次设置的DDS或DAC、频率变换器一、功率放大器、双向定向耦合器连接到NMR探头,双向定向耦合器的前向耦合器连接到接收通道的可变放大器,所述可变放大器经频率变换器二、模数转换器ADC连接到FPGA控制器。本发明提出的一种核磁共振仪器的发射相位校准系统及方法,能自动实现所有发射通道内所有频率点的相位测量和相位误差校准,测量简单,速度快,精度高。(The invention relates to a transmitting phase calibration system and method of a nuclear magnetic resonance instrument. Each transmitting and receiving channel comprises an FPGA controller, the FPGA controller is connected to the NMR probe through a DDS or DAC, a frequency converter I, a power amplifier and a bidirectional directional coupler which are sequentially arranged, a forward coupler of the bidirectional directional coupler is connected to a variable amplifier of the receiving channel, and the variable amplifier is connected to the FPGA controller through a frequency converter II and an analog-to-digital converter ADC. The transmitting phase calibration system and method of the nuclear magnetic resonance instrument can automatically realize phase measurement and phase error calibration of all frequency points in all transmitting channels, and are simple in measurement, high in speed and high in precision.)

1. The transmitting phase calibration system of the nuclear magnetic resonance instrument is characterized by comprising control software (1), wherein the control software (1) is connected with n transmitting and receiving channels (11) and provides control parameters of components in the n transmitting and receiving channels (11); the n transmit-receive channels (11) are functionally identical and are connected to respective channels of the NMR probe (2); the n transmitting and receiving channels (11) respectively comprise an FPGA controller (3), the FPGA controller (3) is connected to the NMR probe (2) through a DDS (digital synthesis synthesizer) or a DAC (digital-to-analog converter) (4), a frequency converter I (5), a power amplifier (6) and a bidirectional directional coupler (7) which are sequentially arranged, a forward coupler of the bidirectional directional coupler (7) is connected to a variable amplifier (8) of the receiving channel, and the variable amplifier (8) is connected to the FPGA controller (3) through a frequency converter II (9) and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) (10).

2. the transmission phase calibration system of a nuclear magnetic resonance instrument according to claim 1, characterized in that the FPGA controller (3) controls the phase modulation parameters of the DDS or DAC (4) to change the phase of the transmission output pulse waveform, the frequency of the DDS or DAC (4) output signal is fixed, and the frequency of the DDS or DAC (4) output signal is converted into the target output frequency by the frequency converter one (5).

3. the system of claim 1, wherein the resonance frequency of each channel of the NMR probe (2) is the same as the radio frequency of each transmit receive channel (11).

4. the transmit phase calibration system of claim 1, wherein the second frequency converter (9) converts the frequency of the received signal to a fixed frequency, the fixed frequency being lower than 1/3 of the sampling rate of the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) (10).

5. The transmit phase calibration system of a nmr instrument according to claim 1, wherein the FPGA controller (3) adjusts the receive channel gain by controlling the control parameters of the variable amplifier (8) in the receive channel to bring the received signal amplitude within the optimum detection range of the ADC (10).

6. Method for transmit phase calibration of an nmr instrument using the system according to any of claims 1-5, comprising the following steps:

S1: the control software (1) selects one channel to be set as a transmitting channel from the channels needing phase correction;

S2: setting initial correction frequency in a selected channel according to a frequency range needing to be corrected by control software (1);

s3: the DDS or DAC (4) is controlled by the control software (1) to output a radio frequency pulse signal with linearly changed phase, the radio frequency pulse signal with linearly changed phase is detected by a forward coupler of a two-way coupler (7) and output to a receiving channel, the variable amplifier (8) is set by the control software (1) to enable the receiving signal to be at proper gain, the FPGA controller (3) controls the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) (10) to convert the receiving analog signal into an orthogonal digital signal, the real part value of the digital signal is R, and the imaginary part value of the digital signal is I;

S4: the control software (1) calculates the phase value of each transmitted pulse using the real R and imaginary I values of the received signal

If the first phase calculation value is not zero, subtracting the first phase value from all calculated phase values to make the first value of the phase table always be zero:

S5: calculating each phase calculation valueand phase setting valuePhase error between:

s6: transmitting channel, frequency, setting valuecorresponding phase errorrecording as a phase error table;

s7: the control software (1) changes the transmitting frequency of the transmitting channel and repeats the steps S2-S6 until all frequency scanning in the transmitting channel is completed;

S8: the control software (1) changes the transmitting channels and repeats the steps S1-S7 until the scanning of the transmitting channels is completed.

7. the method for calibrating the transmission phase of an nmr instrument according to claim 6, wherein in step S3, the phase of the rf pulse output by the DDS or DAC (4) changes linearly within the range of 0 ° to 360 °, and the phase change is stepped by less than 1 °.

8. the method according to claim 6, wherein the control software (1) is adapted to calibrate the transmit phase of the NMR instrument according to a user-defined phase valueLooking up the phase error table to find the phasecorresponding phase error valueAnd calculates the phase value actually set to the DDS or DAC (4):

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of nuclear magnetic resonance instruments, in particular to a system and a method for calibrating a transmitting phase of a nuclear magnetic resonance instrument.

Background

The nuclear magnetic resonance instrument is developed and produced by applying the nuclear magnetic resonance principle, the nuclear magnetic resonance phenomenon of the atomic nucleus of a measured object is excited by transmitting a high-power radio frequency pulse signal to the measured object in a strong magnetic field, the nuclear magnetic resonance signals of molecular groups with different structures have different chemical shifts, generally, a plurality of different molecular groups are mixed in one substance, the nuclear magnetic resonance signals are mutually superposed and mutually interfered, in order to more conveniently observe the nuclear magnetic resonance signals at one or a plurality of chemical shift positions, the nuclear magnetic resonance instrument usually uses a pulse sequence with phase coding to excite the measured object, the position of the excited chemical shift is determined by the accuracy of each phase, the error of the actual phase and the theoretical phase of the transmitted signal can lead the position of the chemical shift of the excited nuclear magnetic resonance signal to be inaccurate, so that an ideal target nuclear magnetic resonance signal can not be obtained, it is therefore an objective requirement that the phase control of the transmitted rf pulses be very precise.

in a nuclear magnetic resonance instrument, a transmitting part is formed by connecting a signal source, a transmitter, a radio frequency power amplifier, a preamplifier and a filter in series, and each part has certain phase deviation, so that the phase error of a radio frequency pulse actually acting on a molecular group and an ideal phase exists, and the phase error of a transmitting system needs to be calibrated. Meanwhile, the nuclear magnetic resonance instrument is provided with a plurality of emission channels, and each channel needs to be calibrated respectively. The content of the calibration comprises:

1) The signal source, the transmitter, the radio frequency power amplifier, the preamplifier and other transmitting components are connected in series to form a transmitting whole;

2) Selecting a certain transmitting channel and placing the transmitting channel under a certain working frequency;

3) transmitting pulses through a transmitter, changing the phase of the transmitted pulses at equal intervals within the phase change range of 0-360 degrees, and accurately measuring the actual phase of each transmitted pulse;

4) calculating the error between the actual phase and the ideal phase of each transmitted pulse to form an error table;

5) Changing the transmitting frequency, and repeating the phase calibration measurement under different frequencies;

6) The different transmit channels are changed and the above measurements are repeated for all channels.

the phase of a single transmitted pulse can be measured manually using a phase meter or by a method of measurement against a reference signal that does not meet the phase measurement requirements of nuclear magnetometers:

1) The measurement precision is poor, the measurement result has great error, and the measurement precision of 0.1 degree cannot be achieved;

2) The channels cannot be automatically switched, and the measurement equipment needs to be manually switched among different measurement channels;

3) The phase measurement data needs to be manually recorded, and the error value of the phase needs to be manually calculated, so that the measurement processes of manually connecting the equipment, switching the channels and recording the measurement data are complicated, the consumed time is long, and automatic measurement cannot be realized.

Disclosure of Invention

in order to overcome the defects in the prior art, the invention provides a system and a method for calibrating the transmitting phase of a nuclear magnetic resonance instrument, which solve the problems of low measuring precision, complex operation and long time consumption of the conventional transmitting pulse phase calibration and realize full-automatic phase measurement and phase error calibration.

the invention is realized by the following technical scheme:

A transmitting phase calibration system of a nuclear magnetic resonance instrument comprises control software, wherein the control software is connected with n transmitting and receiving channels and provides control parameters of components in the n transmitting and receiving channels; the n transmitting and receiving channels have the same functions and are connected to all the channels of the NMR probe; the n transmitting and receiving channels respectively comprise an FPGA controller, the FPGA controller is connected to the NMR probe through a DDS or a DAC, a first frequency converter, a power amplifier and a bidirectional directional coupler which are sequentially arranged, a forward coupler of the bidirectional directional coupler is connected to a variable amplifier of the receiving channel, and the variable amplifier is connected to the FPGA controller through a second frequency converter and an ADC (analog-to-digital converter).

Furthermore, the FPGA controller controls phase modulation parameters of the DDS or the DAC to change the phase of the emission output pulse waveform, the frequency of the output signal of the DDS or the DAC is fixed, and the frequency of the output signal of the DDS or the DAC is converted into the target output frequency by the frequency converter I.

Further, the resonance frequency of each channel of the NMR probe is the same as the radio frequency of each transmit receive channel.

Further, the second frequency converter converts the frequency of the received signal into a fixed frequency, and the fixed frequency is lower than 1/3 of the sampling rate of the analog-to-digital converter ADC.

furthermore, the FPGA controller adjusts the gain of the receiving channel by controlling the control parameter of the variable amplifier in the receiving channel, so that the amplitude of the received signal is in the optimal detection range of the ADC.

A method for calibrating the emission phase of a nuclear magnetic resonance instrument specifically comprises the following steps:

s1: the control software selects one channel to be set as a transmitting channel from the channels needing phase correction;

S2: setting initial correction frequency in the selected channel by control software according to the frequency range to be corrected;

S3: the DDS or the DAC is controlled by control software to output a radio frequency pulse signal with linearly changed phase, the radio frequency pulse signal with linearly changed phase is detected by a forward coupler of a bidirectional coupler and is output to a receiving channel, the control software sets a variable amplifier to enable the receiving signal to be at proper gain, an FPGA controller controls an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to convert the receiving analog signal into an orthogonal digital signal, the real part value of the digital signal is R, and the imaginary part value of the digital signal is I;

S4: the control software calculates the phase value of each transmitted pulse using the real R and imaginary I values of the received signal

If the first phase calculation value is not zero, subtracting the first phase value from all calculated phase values to make the first value of the phase table always be zero,

s5: calculating each phase calculation valueand phase setting valuephase error between:

s6: transmitting channel, frequency, setting valueCorresponding phase errorRecording as a phase error table;

s7: the control software changes the transmitting frequency of the transmitting channel and repeats the steps S2-S6 until all frequency scanning in the transmitting channel is completed;

S8: the control software changes the transmission channel and repeats the steps S1-S7 until the transmission channels are scanned completely.

further, in step S3, the phase of the rf pulse output by the DDS or DAC changes linearly within a range of 0 ° to 360 °, and the phase change step is less than 1 °.

furthermore, in the use process, the control software sets the phase value according to the userLooking up the phase error table to find the phasecorresponding phase error valueand calculates the phase value actually set to the DDS or DAC:

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the beneficial effects that:

according to the transmitting phase calibration system and method for the nuclear magnetic resonance instrument, control software automatically controls channel switching, frequency conversion and phase measurement, and automatically calculates and generates the phase error table, so that the phases of all transmitting channels and all transmitting frequencies can be measured and calibrated, and the system and method are simple in measurement, high in speed and high in precision.

Drawings

fig. 1 is a block diagram of a transmit phase calibration system of a nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a transmit phase calibration of a single transmit receive channel according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a flowchart of a method for calibrating a transmission phase of a nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

in the figure:

1. Control software; 2. an NMR probe; 3. an FPGA controller; 4. a DDS or DAC; 5. a first frequency converter; 6. a power amplifier; 7. a bidirectional directional coupler; 8. a variable amplifier; 9. a second frequency converter; 10. an analog-to-digital converter ADC; 11. and transmitting and receiving channels.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention is described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention.

as shown in fig. 1, a system for calibrating a transmitting phase of a nuclear magnetic resonance instrument includes a control software 1, where the control software 1 is connected to n transmitting and receiving channels 11, where n transmitting and receiving channels 11 are identical and connected to respective radio frequency channels of an NMR probe 2;

In this embodiment, the control software 1 controls all the transmitting and receiving channels 11 to output pulses with controlled phases, controls the receiving channels to detect the output rf pulses, converts the output rf pulses into orthogonal digital signals, calculates the phases of the output signals, and further compares the phases with the set phases to form a phase error table.

in this embodiment, the NMR probe 2 is a load of a nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus, the radio frequency pulse of the transmission channel is transmitted through the NMR probe 2, and the NMR probe 2 has a plurality of radio frequency channels and is respectively connected to the transmission and reception channels. The resonance frequency of each radio frequency channel of the NMR probe 2 is adjustable and always kept the same as the transmission frequency of the associated transmit receive channel 11 to minimize reflections.

As shown in fig. 2, a transmitting and receiving channel structure of a transmitting phase calibration system of a nuclear magnetic resonance instrument includes an FPGA controller 3, the FPGA controller 3 is connected to a DDS or DAC4 of a transmitting channel, and the DDS or DAC4 is connected to an NMR probe 2 through a first frequency converter 5, a power amplifier 6, and a bidirectional directional coupler 7 which are sequentially arranged.

In the embodiment, the DDS or DAC4 generates a pulse waveform with fixed frequency and variable phase under the control of the control software 1, and the frequency of the output signal of the DDS or DAC4 is converted into the target output frequency by the frequency converter two 5;

In this embodiment, the power amplifier 6 is a radio frequency power amplification component necessary for the nuclear magnetic resonance instrument, and is configured to amplify the power of the low-power pulse output by the DDS or DAC4 to several tens to several kilowatts, and the power amplifier is a high-power component and often has a large phase error;

in this embodiment, the forward coupler of the bidirectional directional coupler 7 is connected to the variable amplifier 8 of the reception channel, the directional coupler 7 is a device in the preamplifier of the nmr apparatus for detecting forward and reverse rf signals having a good directivity through the preamplifier, a signal of the transmission direction detected by the forward coupler of the bidirectional directional coupler 7 is output to the variable amplifier 8 of the reception channel, and the coupling coefficient of the directional coupler can be set according to the detection range of the transmission power.

In this embodiment, the receiving channel variable amplifier 8 is connected to the FPGA controller 3 through the second frequency converter 9 and the analog-to-digital converter ADC10, and the analog-to-digital converter ADC10 is configured to convert the received analog signal into an orthogonal digital signal, and further send the orthogonal digital signal to the control software 1 for subsequent processing.

in this embodiment, the control software 1 controls the control parameters of the variable amplifier 8 in the receiving channel to adjust the gain of the receiving channel so that the received signal amplitude is in the optimum detection range of the analog-to-digital converter ADC 10.

in this embodiment, the second frequency converter 9 converts the frequency of the received signal to a fixed frequency, which is lower than 1/3 of the sampling rate of the analog-to-digital converter ADC 10.

As shown in fig. 3, a method for calibrating an emission phase of a nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus specifically includes the following steps:

S1: the control software 1 selects one channel to be set as a transmitting channel from the channels needing phase correction;

s2: the control software 1 sets an initial correction frequency in the selected channel according to the frequency range needing to be corrected;

S3: the control software 1 controls the DDS or DAC4 to output a radio frequency pulse signal with linearly changed phase, the radio frequency pulse signal with linearly changed phase is detected by a forward coupler of the two-way coupler 7 and output to a receiving channel, the control software 1 sets the variable amplifier 8 to enable the receiving signal to be at proper gain, the FPGA controller controls the analog-to-digital converter ADC10 to convert the receiving analog signal into an orthogonal digital signal, the real part value of the digital signal is R, and the imaginary part value of the digital signal is I;

S4: the control software 1 calculates the phase value for each transmitted pulse using the real R and imaginary I values of the received signal

If the first phase calculation value is not zero, subtracting the first phase value from all calculated phase values to make the first value of the phase table always be zero,

S5: calculating each phase calculation valueAnd phase setting valuephase error between:

S6: transmitting channel, frequency, setting valuecorresponding phase errorRecording as a phase error table;

S7: the control software 1 changes the transmitting frequency of the transmitting channel and repeats the steps S2-S6 until all frequency scanning in the transmitting channel is completed;

S8: the control software 1 changes the transmission channel and repeats the steps S1-S7 until the transmission channels are scanned completely.

in this embodiment, in step S3, the phase of the rf pulse output by the DDS or DAC4 changes linearly in the range of 0 ° to 360 °, and the phase change is stepped by less than 1 °.

In this embodiment, in the using process, the control software 1 sets the phase value according to the userLooking up the phase error table to find the phasecorresponding phase error valueAnd calculates the phase value actually set to the DDS or DAC 4:

In summary, the system and the method for calibrating the transmitting phase of the nuclear magnetic resonance instrument provided by the invention have the advantages that the control software automatically controls the switching of the channels, the frequency conversion and the phase measurement, and automatically calculates and generates the phase error table, so that the measurement and calibration of the phases of all transmitting channels and all transmitting frequencies can be realized, the measurement is simple, the speed is high, and the precision is high.

The above description is only an embodiment of the present invention, and not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and all modifications of equivalent structures and equivalent processes performed by the present specification and drawings, or directly or indirectly applied to other related technical fields, are included in the scope of the present invention.