Barbara L. Beck1,2, Joshua E. Slade1,
Huadong Zeng1,2
1McKnight Brain Institute,
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States; 2National
High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Tallahassee, FL, United States
PIN diodes are a basic component used in MRI coils to control decoupling circuits, allowing operation of either transmit-only or receive-only coils. A PIN diode driver is necessary to send out the appropriate forward bias current and reverse bias voltage for the diode to function properly. However, small animal MRI systems may not be configured with PIN diode drivers and commercial PIN drivers are very expensive. As an alternative, we have developed a low cost driver that can output the required forward bias current and reverse bias voltage to successfully drive multiple PIN diodes.