Racetrack Coils for Dedicated MRI Magnets

The need to optimize the magnet shape, size and region of homogeneity with respect to the anatomy of the patient is particularly strong in dedicated MRI magnet design: cost and weight are often determining factors for success in the market. An elongated coil geometry could be useful in cases where the scanner is designed for imaging non axisymmetric parts of the human body (e.g. extremities): in this paper we present a fast design method based on Linear Programming (LP), in which racetrack coils are used to optimize the magnetic field homogeneity over an ellipsoidal region, together with some results.