barthel HF-Technik GmbH

The META-scan Project is part of the EU sponsered Non Invasive Chemical Imaging NICI project. It aims to predict chemotherapy efficacy in patients with liver metastasis using novel metabolic imaging immediately after the first cycle of treatment. For this we delivered our first high power RFPA with a peak output power of 16kW. Using RF body transmitters tuned to MRI frequencies of i.e. sodium and phosphorus, cell proliferation metabolism can be imaged with 7T MRI systems. Coordinated by Professor Klomp of the University Medical Center Utrecht, demonstraters of metabolic imaging have been designed, build and operational on Philips platforms (Utrecht and Amsterdam, led by Professor van Laarhoven, MD), Siemens platform (University of Cambridge, led by Professor Rodgers) and GE platform (university of Pisa, led by Professor Tosetti). Multi center clinical is started, yet preliminary results can already be found here:

1. Van Houtum Q, Welting D, Gosselink WJM, Klomp DWJ, Arteaga de Castro CS, van der Kemp WJM. Low SAR 31 P (multi-echo) spectroscopic imaging using an integrated whole-body transmit coil at 7T. NMR Biomed. 2019 Dec;32(12):e4178. doi: 10.1002/nbm.4178. Epub 2019 Oct 14. PMID: 31608515; PMCID: PMC6900186.

2.van Houtum QQ, Mohamed Hoesein FFAA, Verhoeff JJJC, van Rossum PPSN, van Lindert AASR, van der Velden TTA, van der Kemp WWJM, Klomp DDWJ, Arteaga de Castro CCS. Feasibility of 31 P spectroscopic imaging at 7 T in lung carcinoma patients. NMR Biomed. 2021 May;34(5):e4204. doi: 10.1002/nbm.4204. Epub 2019 Nov 17. PMID: 31736167; PMCID: PMC8244006.

3.Froeling M, Prompers JJ, Klomp DWJ, van der Velden TA. PCA denoising and Wiener deconvolution of 31 P 3D CSI data to enhance effective SNR and improve point spread function. Magn Reson Med. 2021 Jun;85(6):2992-3009. doi: 10.1002/mrm.28654. Epub 2021 Feb 1. PMID: 33522635; PMCID: PMC7986807.

4.Forner R, Nam K, de Koning KJ, van der Velden T, van der Kemp W, Raaijmakers A, Klomp DWJ. RF Coil Setup for 31P MRSI in Tongue Cancer in vivo at 7 T. Front Neurol. 2021 Nov 2;12:695202. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2021.695202. PMID: 34795625; PMCID: PMC8593189.

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The Deutsche Museum in Munich established a new site in Nürnberg. The Deutsche Museum in Nürnberg opened its gates in September 2021. For this new museum we designed, manufactured, and installed a plasma demonstrator. Visitors can start the plasma just by pressing a knob. It is an RF driven inductively coupled plasma which ignites a gas in a glas body. The demonstrator has magnets that can be moved and by that influence the plasma density. While visitors move the magnets they can observe the plasma brightness change.

The glas body and experience with a former plasma demonstrator was contributed by Forschungszentrum Jülich. This we much appreciated.

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The Cooler Synchrotron COSY at the Forschungszentrum Jülich is a medium energy accelerator and storage ring which is considered a unique worldwide facility for spin Physics. The JEDI Collaboration operates COSY as part of its activities aiming for the measurement of the Electric Dipole Moments (EDM) of Deuterons and Protons. The EDM is a new fundamental property of particles shall provide an answer of our very existence. To do so, JEDI in collaboration with the Institute of High Frequency Technology of the RWTH Aachen developed a novel accelerator component, the waveguide RF Wien Filter, for spin manipulation while maintaining a vanishing Lorentz force. For this exciting research project we provided a variety of RF modules: variable resistors, voltage/current detectors, RF isolators and transformers. The most sophisticated piece of equipment we designed, manufactured, and delivered was a unique ultra-fast and high power RF switch. For more information on the Wien Filter see the following papers:

• Electromagnetic Simulation and Design of a Novel Waveguide RF Wien Filter for Electric Dipole Moment Measurements of Protons and Deuterons
• Polynomial Chaos Expansion method as a tool to evaluate and quantify field homogeneities of a novel waveguide RF Wien filter
• The driving circuit of the waveguide RF Wien filter for the deuteron EDM precursor experiment at COSY

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The target of this unique plasma system was to generate a customized voltage waveform at the systems electrodes. For this three RF Generators worked on consecutive harmonic frequencies by using an external signal source. This signal source not only provided the three phase locked frequencies but it also allowed to control the phase differences between all three of them. All three channels have an own matching network in order to allow individual matching and by that high efficient operation. RF Generators and MatchingNetworks we equipped with specific filters in order to work independently in each channel. This project we realized for and with Prof. Julian Schulze and his team at the West Virginia University.

For information on the electrical asymmetry effect see:

• The electrical asymmetry effect in capacitively coupled radio frequency discharges – measurements of dc self bias, ion energy and ion flux
• Power supply and impedance matching to drive technological radio-frequency plasmas with customized voltage waveforms
• Ion energy control via the electrical asymmetry effect to tune coating properties in reactive radio frequency sputtering

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For and together with the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics we designed and manufactured RF Generators. Each RF Generator contains two independent channels. Each channel delivers a 81.36MHz signal with a maximum output power of 5 Watts. The focus we put on exact power control and a light weight package. With it an ICP application is supplied to research Dusty Plasma in a non gravity environment. For more technical information please visit: NASA: Dusty Plasma Research on ISS.

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