Compensation for unknown acquisition delay caused by digital receiver without external synchronization in NMR and MRI.

The unknown acquisition delay problem caused by a digital receiver without external synchronization in NMR and MRI applications is discussed in detail. An effective procedure is suggested for overcoming the problem. The main features of the proposed method include minimal hardware modifications and highly efficient algorithms. It is important to note that this method does not rely on any special architecture for the digital receiver. To test the method, a digital receiver was implemented using a commercially available single-chip IC. Finally, the method was verified on a 0.3-T home-built MRI system. The experimental results show that the proposed method may be a useful tool for correcting the unknown acquisition delay arising from commercially available digital receivers without external synchronization in NMR and MRI.