Pupa: A Pulse Programming Assistant for NMR Imaging

The design of pulse programs for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) experiments is tedious and complex, requiring a deep understanding of the interactions that exist between magnetic fields generated during an MRI experiment. This paper describes an intelligent system that understands how to construct the multichannel temporal sequences of pulses needed to control an MRI experiment. PUPA, the PUlse Programmers Assistant, provides assistance to a relatively naive user of MRI systems. Knowledge is coded in the form of rules and semantic networks. A natural language facility and menu system are provided for communication with the user.