Magnetic resonance scanner with embedded quantum computer
The present disclosure relates to a magnetic resonance (MR) scanner and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. The MR scanner includes a superconducting magnet, a superconducting quantum processor, a first cooling system surrounding the superconducting magnet, and a second cooling system surrounding the superconducting quantum processor. The second cooling system is embedded in the first cooling system.
1. A magnetic resonance (MR) scanner comprising:
a superconducting magnet;
a superconducting quantum processor; and
a multi-stage refrigeration system comprising:
a first cooling system surrounding the superconducting magnet; and
a second cooling system surrounding the superconducting quantum processor, wherein the second cooling system is embedded in the first cooling system.
2. The MR scanner of claim 1 , wherein the superconducting quantum processor is positioned within a region inside coils of the superconducting magnet such that a magnetic field at a position of the superconducting quantum processor is comparatively low.
3. The MR scanner of claim 2 , wherein the superconducting magnet comprises main field coils and shield coils and the superconducting quantum processor is positioned in a region inside the superconducting magnet coils in-between the main field coils and the shield coils such that a local magnetic field at the position of the superconducting quantum processor is reduced by a cancelling effect excited by the main field coils and the shield coils.
4. The MR scanner of claim 3 , further comprising:
thermal radiation shields configured for thermally insulating cooling stages of the first cooling system and the second cooling system.
5. The MR scanner of claim 1 , wherein the first cooling system comprises two cooling stages and the second cooling system comprises two additional cooling stages.
6. The MR scanner of claim 5 , further comprising:
thermal radiation shields configured for thermally insulating the two cooling stages of the first cooling system and the two cooling stages of the second cooling system.
7. The MR scanner of claim 1 , further comprising:
a superconducting magnetic shield.
8. The MR scanner of claim 7 , wherein thermal radiation shields are additionally configured as the superconducting magnetic shield.
9. The MR scanner of claim 7 , wherein the superconducting magnetic shield comprises a Meissner magnetic shield.
10. The MR scanner of claim 7 , wherein the superconducting magnetic shield is configured as an enclosure surrounding the superconducting quantum processor.
11. The MR scanner of claim 10 , further comprising:
an active magnetic shield as the enclosure.
12. The MR scanner of claim 10 , wherein the superconducting magnetic shield comprises a superconducting coil connected in series to the superconducting magnet of the MR scanner.
13. The MR scanner of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first cooling system and the second cooling system comprises a cascaded cooling system,
wherein at least two cooling stages of the first cooling system and the second cooling system are thermally connected by a switchable thermal link.
14. The MR scanner of claim 1 , further comprising:
a service turret configured for accessing and servicing the superconducting magnet and for accessing and servicing the superconducting quantum processor.
15. The MR scanner of claim 1 , further comprising:
electrical interconnections between various cooling stages, the electrical interconnections comprising a filtering function for removing or at least strongly attenuating non-differential external electro-magnetic interference components as well as any differential interference located outside an operational signal bandwidth.
16. The MR scanner of claim 1 , wherein the first cooling system comprises a cold head for cycling helium through the first cooling system, and
wherein an enclosure of the superconducting quantum processor, electrical interconnections, and cooling stages are mechanically attached to the cold head, such that the multi-stage refrigeration system is removable outside an outer vacuum container surrounding the multi-stage refrigeration system via a service turret.
17. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system comprising:
a control unit; and
a magnetic resonance (MR) scanner in communication with the control unit, the MR scanner comprising:
a superconducting magnet;
a superconducting quantum processor; and
a multi-stage refrigeration system comprising:
a first cooling system surrounding the superconducting magnet; and
a second cooling system surrounding the superconducting quantum processor, wherein the second cooling system is embedded in the first cooling system.