JP2000275314A - Pulse generating device for nmr combining a plurality of pulse generators - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a pulse generating device to independently generate and output a pulse sequence for NMR measurement in each channel at free timing. SOLUTION: A pulse generating device is constituted of a master pulser 21 which executes the whole timing of a pulse Sequence for NMR measurement described in the pulser 21 and generates a trigger signal for making each slave pulser execute its own pulse sequence, a plurality of slave pulsers 22, 23, 24,... which independently operate and execute their own pulse sequences upon receiving the trigger signals and respectively correspond to high-frequency outputting channels, and a host computer 10 which loads pulse sequences separated for the master pulser 21 and slave pulsers 22, 23, 24,... in the pulsers 21, 22, 23, 24,... through a data bus 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an NMR pulse generator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a general pulse generator in NMR. A pulse sequence (pulse program) for obtaining an NMR pulse output is written in advance from a data bus 1 such as a computer to a storage device 3 such as a memory or FIFO. The pulse sequence is
For example, as shown in FIG. 3, a time for irradiating an NMR sample with a high-frequency signal, that is, a control signal # 1 for creating an RF gate signal, and after a lapse of a predetermined time for which the high-frequency signal is irradiated,
The control signal # 2 generates a receiver gate signal that opens the gate of the receiver that captures the signal, and the control signal # 3 generates a start trigger signal that samples data while data is being input by the receiver gate signal. The data configuration for generating these pulse sequences is, for example, as shown in FIG. That is, it consists of an address data field, a timer data field, and a state data field. The address data field stores data for determining its own next address, and the timer data field stores the timing of pulse generation. Data is stored, and data indicating the state of 1 or 0 of the control signals # 1, # 2, and # 3 shown in FIG. 2 is stored in the state data field.

As described above, an actual pulse output is realized by a change of 1, 0 of a selected bit of state data among data stored in the storage device 3 of FIG.
This data is temporarily stored in the state register 5 in order to take time timing. The data of the timer data field of the storage device 3 is input to the timer counter 4. When the countdown is started by the clock 4 and the content of the timer counter 4 becomes 0, the time-out signal is sent to itself and the state register 5.
It becomes a load signal for reading the next data. The timing of the change of the pulse output between 1 and 0 is properly realized by the timeout signal. Then, the contents of the address / data field of the storage device 3 are input to the address controller 2, and an appropriate next address of the storage device is obtained. Thus, the data of the storage device 3 is sequentially read, and a pulse sequence is generated and output. Conventional NMR has a configuration in which one such pulse generator is incorporated.

[0004]

The recent NM
In R, application fields have been developed, and accordingly, pulse sequences used for measurement have become more and more complicated. In particular, in the field of protein research, multi-channel NMR high-frequency output and pulse sequences for outputting pulses having complex waveforms have become commonplace. It is also common to move the pulse while changing the pulse interval while measuring. In this case, pulses may overlap each other between multiple channels. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a channel 1 outputs a set of a plurality of pulses having different amplitudes, and a channel 2 outputs a set of a plurality of pulses having different phases. In NMR, such a pulse train is scanned several times, and the pulse generation timing of channel 1 and channel 2 may be shifted with respect to each other.

To meet such application requirements, NMR
In a configuration with one pulse generator per device,
There are great restrictions on creating pulse sequences,
In reality, it is assumed that description becomes impossible. For example, when one is moved by the two-channel pulse shown in FIG. 5 and the other is overtaken, the two may overlap with each other.
A single pulse generator cannot accurately represent a time-varying pulse generation timing between two channels in a time-series manner. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to be able to generate and output an NMR pulse sequence independently and freely at each channel.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided an NMR pulse generating apparatus in which a plurality of pulse generators are combined.
The master pulser that describes and executes the entire timing of the pulse sequence of the measurement, executes a specific pulse sequence for each slave pulser, and receives the trigger signal from the master pulser through the synchronous bus Multiple slave pulsers corresponding to each high-frequency output channel that operates independently and executes a unique pulse sequence, and a host that loads a separate pulse sequence for the master pulser and the slave pulser to each pulser via the data bus And a computer.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the pulse generator of the present invention. The host computer 10 is a device for compiling one pulse sequence separately for a master pulser and for a slave pulser, and supplying the pulse sequence to each pulser through the data bus 11. In the present invention, a plurality of pulse generators having the same configuration as that shown in FIG. 2 are provided, one of which is a master pulser 21 and the other pulsers are slave pulsers 22, 23, 24. The master pulser 21 describes the entire timing of the pulse sequence of the NMR measurement. The master pulser 21 itself executes the described pulse sequence as an independent pulser, and further generates a trigger signal for causing the slave pulser to start its own pulse sequence. Has a function to issue. The slave pulsers 22, 23, 24,... Correspond to the respective high-frequency output channels, and upon receiving a trigger signal issued by the master pulser 21 via the synchronous bus 12,
It is a pulser for independently generating the output of each unique pulse sequence.

Next, the operation will be described. Before starting the NMR measurement, a pulse sequence is loaded from the host computer 10 via the data bus 11 to the master pulser 21 and the slave pulsers 22, 23 and 24 in advance.
When the measurement is started, the pulse sequence of the master pulser 21 is started. The pulse sequence of the master pulser controls the timing of the entire measurement. If necessary, the slave pulser 2 operates at the specified timing during the measurement.
2, 23, 24,... Are triggered to execute the pulse sequence loaded in each slave pulser. This trigger signal is given via the synchronous bus 12, and is always sent from the master pulser 21 and received by the slave pulser. The pulse sequence loaded to the slave pulser is different from that of the master pulser 21. For example, a pulse having a complicated waveform composed of a set of a plurality of pulses having different amplitudes as shown in FIG. This is to generate a pulse composed of a set of pulses.

The slave pulsers are provided corresponding to the number of high-frequency output channels, and a pulse sequence corresponding to each channel is executed in accordance with a command from the master pulser 21. Since the master pulser 21 only outputs a start trigger signal to the slave pulser for a channel other than its own channel, for example, a complicated pulse is overlapped between channels, slightly shifted in timing, moved or shifted. Overtaking is easily feasible. This means that NMR users
This leads to greatly reducing restrictions when creating a pulse sequence.

[0010]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be achieved. A plurality of pulse generators are configured for one NMR,
Since each corresponds to a high frequency output channel, a pulse sequence unique to each channel can be assigned to each pulse generator. By dividing a plurality of pulse generators into one master pulser and another slave pulser, a pulse sequence specific to each channel is taken over by the slave pulser, and the master pulser generates a trigger signal for activating these slave pulsers. It can be shared as a function to give. The master pulser can issue a trigger signal to the slave pulser at free timing, and the slave pulser can operate independently in each channel, so that a pulse with free timing can be output between channels. Since each channel becomes an independent pulser, NMR
Users who want to create pulse sequences do not need to consider each other's pulse timing content between channels, only the start timing of each channel, which greatly burdens the user in describing the pulse sequence. Can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a pulse generator of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a pulse generator in NMR.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a pulse sequence.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data configuration for generating a pulse sequence.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a two-channel pulse.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: host computer, 21: master pulser,
22, 23, 24 ... slave pulsar.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A master pulser which describes and executes the entire timing of a pulse sequence of an NMR measurement, issues a trigger signal for causing each slave pulser to execute a unique pulse sequence, and a master bus through a synchronous bus When a trigger signal is received from the pulser, the slave pulser operates independently and executes a unique pulse sequence.A plurality of slave pulsers corresponding to each high-frequency output channel, and a pulse sequence separated into a master pulser and a slave pulser through a data bus. A pulse generator for NMR combining a plurality of pulse generators each including a host computer to be loaded into each pulser.