MRI story

[KK6PD]

Originally Posted by qbee42

I like this post, especially the last part. In previous jobs I have managed R&D engineering for a company that makes MRI units and also the company that makes the Mk 48 torpedo. I never thought the two would come together in the same conversation.

Tom

So I should Thank You for my experience ...

While I admire the design of a Mk.48 and its ability to break the back of most ships..

I also admire the technology behind a MRI, fortunately for me, all the Techs who worked on me, allowed me to see the results. They can't really tell you what's wrong with you... But they would Nod or Shake the Head when I pointed things out with a relevant question on the SCAN!! I catch on quickly!!! I just hate torpedo tubes! Which I believe are close to the same diameter as a MRI tube, well at least the one's I have been in!!!

I am however VERY CLAUSTROPHOBIC!!! Well at least when it comes to being shoved into tubes that are Cold, Dark, Long and VERY noisy!!! I can pretty much McGyver my way out of most situations when called upon to do so, I give up on steel tubes!!!

That being said, Thank You for your help in creating these Modern Marvels!!!

[dogfriend]

Maybe the guys ex-wife/ex-girlfriend put the nail up his nose while he was asleep.


Now I'll be up all night thinking about that possibility.

[galaxee]

good thing DH has spent enough time in an MRI to know that they won't pull any (more?) metal out of him. he'll be spending a lot of time with them in 2 weeks.

[FL_Prius_Driver]

Originally Posted by qbee42

I just read this believable but somewhat disgusting MRI story. Having worked in the field of MRI design for several years,....

What is you opinion of the book about the first MRI machine ("A Machine Called Indomitable")?

[jayman]

I'm sure Tom had a part to play in the first series of MRI machines. Such as the time some women walked into the prototype machine suite, and suddenly started moving their bodies in a weird, rhythmic fashion

Turns out the wire reinforcing in their bras were - shall we say - stimulated, which was .... stimulating ... the women.

I - unfortunately - have never had career experience stimulating women that way. However, once while in the Army, a bunch of us really scared the s*** out of a guy at a DEW radar site. I sure hope we didn't give him a brain tumor in the process ....

[qbee42]

Originally Posted by FL_Prius_Driver

What is you opinion of the book about the first MRI machine ("A Machine Called Indomitable")?

Oddly enough I haven't read that book. I should sometime. I knew some of the old timers that went way back to Wembley. NMR, obviously, had been around for a long time before it was used for imaging. I remember the NMR guys at The Upjohn Company, when we moved into a new building, and they spent months getting the NMR machine sealed, evacuated, and running again. It was a fussy beast.

The first MRI images were only a few pixels, but it was enough to see that the concept had promise. The concept is pretty simple if you understand fourier transforms and phase encoding, but getting it to actually work in a clinical environment is devilishly complicated. You need faraday shielding to keep out RF, and magnetic shielding to prevent interference from passing cars and the like. The signal levels are so low that almost anything gets in the way. Add to that liquid helium cooling and lots of superconducting wire and you have an expensive technology. I wish there was an easy way to make it cheaper.

Speaking of which, have you guys been following some of the recent advances in MRI? One research group has announced some promising work using something other than the usual proton imaging. This new technology is supposed to allow direct imaging of some of the harder tissues, and has a signal 1000 times stronger than the current systems. I hope it turns out to be true.

Tom

[qbee42]

Originally Posted by KK6PD

So I should Thank You for my experience ...

While I admire the design of a Mk.48 and its ability to break the back of most ships..

I also admire the technology behind a MRI, fortunately for me, all the Techs who worked on me, allowed me to see the results. They can't really tell you what's wrong with you... But they would Nod or Shake the Head when I pointed things out with a relevant question on the SCAN!! I catch on quickly!!! I just hate torpedo tubes! Which I believe are close to the same diameter as a MRI tube, well at least the one's I have been in!!!

I am however VERY CLAUSTROPHOBIC!!! Well at least when it comes to being shoved into tubes that are Cold, Dark, Long and VERY noisy!!! I can pretty much McGyver my way out of most situations when called upon to do so, I give up on steel tubes!!!

That being said, Thank You for your help in creating these Modern Marvels!!!

First of all, I don't recommend loading a Mk.48 into an MRI. It probably wouldn't do either of them much good. The Mk.48 is a very large beast. We had one hanging in the lobby of our headquarters, and visitors were always shocked by the size. It's no wonder they can break the back of a ship.

The MRI company that I worked for had the largest bores in the industry. No, I'm not talking about my engineers, I am talking about the magnets. Large bore magnets were and are important for fat people and people like you with claustrophobia. Unfortunately, signal to noise is inversely related to magnet bore, so for the same performance it is cheaper to have a small magnet. We used a lot of industrial design tricks to make the bore feel larger: a large tapered opening, gradient lighting, and moving air.

Getting back to Mk.48s and claustrophobia, you would probably enjoy submerged egress through a torpedo tube. I imagine the part where they close the inner door and start flooding the tube would be really fun for you.

Just one last odd thought: One of the buildings where I worked had a torpedo tank in the basement. It looked like the world's skinniest swimming pool.

Tom

[jayman]

Originally Posted by qbee42

I remember the NMR guys at The Upjohn Company, when we moved into a new building, and they spent months getting the NMR machine sealed, evacuated, and running again.

You're being unusually quiet about wire reinforced bras ....

Originally Posted by qbee42

The concept is pretty simple if you understand fourier transforms and phase encoding,

I've used a similar line with clients I don't particularly like.

"Ok, this is pretty easy to understand. Do you know calculus, Fourier Transforms ....? No? Huh. Then it's impossible for you to understand. It's Magik then"

Originally Posted by qbee42

and magnetic shielding to prevent interference from passing cars

A somewhat similar issue: A lot of folks are unaware the Air Traffic Control system uses a lot of Cold War technology. By "Cold War technology" I mean vacuum tube radar consoles, like something out of a SAGE blockhouse.

The radar system will allow an Airbus A320 to disappear at the MM and IM on final, but it *will* pick up cars on the Interstate two miles away.

Originally Posted by qbee42

Add to that liquid helium cooling

Oh I bet you guys had parties in the basement, where after the third round of drinks somebody cracked open the valve and suddenly everybody was squeaking like Alvin and the Chimpmunks.

Originally Posted by qbee42

One research group has announced some promising work using something other than the usual proton imaging. This new technology is supposed to allow direct imaging of some of the harder tissues, and has a signal 1000 times stronger than the current systems.

That's still in the strict prototype/lab environment, right? I thought it was years away from being fielded

[jayman]

Originally Posted by qbee42

The Mk.48 is a very large beast.

Just curious if you were involved in the ADCAP refit. There was a lot of initial DARPA and later on, MURI funding, for that project

Originally Posted by qbee42

The MRI company that I worked for had the largest bores in the industry. No, I'm not talking about my engineers,

Actually, the best engineers I know are complete bores with no sense of humor whatsoever. Which is why I find you such an intriguing mystery ....

Originally Posted by qbee42

Large bore magnets were and are important for fat people

So is going on a diet and getting some exercise. That's a pet peeve of mine. I have direct personal experience of what its like to become a fast disgusting slob. It was strictly due to being lazy and having weak self control

Originally Posted by qbee42

Getting back to Mk.48s and claustrophobia, you would probably enjoy submerged egress through a torpedo tube.

I bet the Navy could offer thrill seekers - eg those suicidal folks who jump off buildings and bridges - special adventure rides in Ohio class submarines. Charge them maybe $50,000, bring on board 100 of them.

At the end of the ride, they have a choice of going out the torpedo tube, or out the missile tube. PHOOOM!!

[dogfriend]

Originally Posted by jayman

J
Actually, the best engineers I know are complete bores with no sense of humor whatsoever. Which is why I find you such an intriguing mystery ....

I have found that engineers as a group tend to be cynical and often pessimistic. I have always found that the pessimistic side really helps to evaluate a design and imagine how someone can break it or otherwise f*** it up.