A novel approach of torque-balanced asymmetric gradient coil design for head imaging

A novel approach of designing gradient coil for superconducting MRI is presented in this paper. This design approach, which is based on the well-known target field method, is capable of designing shielded gradient coil of finite length by describing the current density distribution on the surface of the coil in the form of Fourier series. Asymmetric coil with constraints such as torque balance can also be designed using this approach. Design examples of a shielded X gradient coil for whole body imaging and a shielded torque-balanced asymmetric X gradient coil for head imaging were given in this paper. The design process and results prove that this design approach is efficient and practical.