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Fundamentals of MRI An Interactive Learning Approach
Elizabeth Berry Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Elizabeth Berry, Andrew J. Bulpitt
ISBN(s): 9781584889021, 1584889020
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Year: 2008
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Fundamentals of MRI
An Interactive Learning Approach
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Dedication

To David, Jane, and Douglas

To Jayne, Megan, Jemma, and Lucy

Contents

Preface............................................................................................................... xiii
Acknowledgments............................................................................................xv
About the Authors......................................................................................... xvii

1 Introduction................................................................................................. 1
1.1 The Fundamentals of MRI............................................................... 1
1.2 An Interactive Learning Approach................................................ 2
1.3 Using the Programs from Windows® Operating Systems.......... 2
1.3.1 Program Setup Options...................................................... 2
1.3.2 Running Programs Directly from the CD........................ 3
1.3.3 Running the Setup Program.............................................. 5
1.3.4 Installing the Programs...................................................... 6
1.3.5 Running the Installed Programs....................................... 7
1.3.6 Uninstalling the Programs . .............................................. 8
1.4 Non-Windows Operating Systems................................................. 8
1.5 Structure of the Book........................................................................ 9

2 Mathematics, Physics, and Imaging for MRI..................................... 11

2.1 Learning Outcomes........................................................................ 11
2.2 Mathematics for MRI...................................................................... 11
2.2.1 Trigonometric Functions................................................... 11
2.2.1.1 Sine, Cosine, and Tangent................................. 11
2.2.1.2 Inverse Sine, Cosine, and Tangent................... 12
2.2.1.3 Relationships between the Trigonometric
Functions............................................................. 13
2.2.1.4 Degrees and Radians......................................... 13
2.2.1.5 Phase Differences............................................... 13
2.2.2 Vectors................................................................................. 15
2.2.2.1 Definition of a Vector......................................... 15
2.2.2.2 Resolving Vectors............................................... 16
2.2.2.3 Adding Vectors................................................... 17
2.2.3 Three-Dimensional Vectors.............................................. 21
2.2.4 Periodic Signals.................................................................. 22
2.2.5 Phase Diagrams................................................................. 22
2.2.6 Sampling............................................................................. 23
2.2.7 Fourier Series and Fourier Analysis............................... 24
2.2.7.1 Fourier Series...................................................... 24
2.2.7.2 Fourier Analysis................................................. 25

vii
viii Contents

2.2.8 Exponential Decay............................................................. 26

2.2.8.1 Time Constant..................................................... 27
2.2.8.2 Exponential Envelope........................................ 29
2.2.9 Links to Later Chapters.................................................... 30
2.3 Physics for MRI............................................................................... 31
2.3.1 Atomic Structure................................................................ 31
2.3.2 Electricity............................................................................ 31
2.3.3 Magnetism.......................................................................... 32
2.3.4 Electromagnetism.............................................................. 34
2.3.5 Electromagnetic Radiation............................................... 34
2.4 Imaging for MRI.............................................................................. 36
2.4.1 Digital Image, Pixel, and Voxel........................................ 36
2.4.2 Gray-Scale Resolution........................................................ 36
2.4.2.1 Windowing.......................................................... 37
2.4.3 Spatial Resolution.............................................................. 38
2.4.4 Image Contrast................................................................... 38
2.4.5 Signal-to-Noise Ratio......................................................... 38
2.4.6 Geometrical Image Properties......................................... 39
2.5 Clinical Imaging Terms for MRI................................................... 40
2.6 Chapter Summary.......................................................................... 42

3 Basic Physical Principles......................................................................... 43

3.1 Learning Outcomes........................................................................ 43
3.2 Spins and the Net Magnetization Vector..................................... 43
3.3 The Larmor Equation..................................................................... 46
3.3.1 Larmor Frequency............................................................. 47
3.3.2 Gyromagnetic Ratio........................................................... 47
3.4 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance........................................................ 49
3.4.1 Visualization of the Effect of Radio Frequency
(RF) Pulses.......................................................................... 50
3.5 Longitudinal and Transverse Magnetization............................. 51
3.5.1 Full Magnetization and Saturation................................. 53
3.5.2 Free Induction Decay Signal............................................ 53
3.6 Rotating Frame of Reference......................................................... 54
3.7 Chapter Summary.......................................................................... 64
Reference..................................................................................................... 64

4 Relaxation Mechanisms.......................................................................... 65
4.1 Learning Outcomes........................................................................ 65
4.2 T1 and T2 Relaxation...................................................................... 65
4.2.1 Longitudinal Relaxation................................................... 66
4.2.1.1 Typical Longitudinal Relaxation Times.......... 69
4.2.2 Transverse Relaxation....................................................... 70
4.2.2.1 Typical Transverse Relaxation Times.............. 73
Contents ix

4.2.3 Comparison of T1 and T2 Relaxation Times.................. 74

4.2.4 T2*........................................................................................ 76
4.2.5 Relaxation Rates, R1, R2, and R2*.................................... 77
4.3 Effect of Magnetic Field Strength on Relaxation
Mechanisms..................................................................................... 79
4.4 Saturation Recovery Graphs and Tissue Contrast..................... 80
4.4.1 The Saturation Recovery Program.................................. 81
4.5 Contrast Agents............................................................................... 90
4.6 Chapter Summary.......................................................................... 90

5 Slice Selection........................................................................................... 91
5.1 Learning Outcomes........................................................................ 91
5.2 Gradient Fields................................................................................ 91
5.3 Gradient Fields for Slice Selection................................................ 95
5.3.1 Direction of Gradient for Slice Selection........................ 95
5.3.2 Timing of Application of the Gradient Field for
Slice Selection..................................................................... 97
5.4 RF Pulse for Slice Selection: Center Frequency and
Transmitted Bandwidth................................................................. 98
5.4.1 Effect of Center Frequency on Location of Slice............ 98
5.4.2 Transmitted Bandwidth.................................................... 99
5.4.3 Effect of Gradient Strength and Transmitted
Bandwidth on Slice Thickness....................................... 100
5.4.4 Advantages and Disadvantages Associated with
Thin Slices......................................................................... 101
5.5 The Slice Selection Program........................................................ 103
5.5.1 Slice Thickness................................................................. 103
5.5.2 Slice Position......................................................................110
5.6 Acquiring Several Slices................................................................113
5.7 Additional Self-Assessment Questions.......................................115
5.8 Chapter Summary.........................................................................119

6 Frequency Encoding............................................................................... 121

6.1 Learning Outcomes...................................................................... 121
6.2 Principles of Frequency Encoding.............................................. 121
6.3 Gradient Fields for Frequency Encoding................................... 122
6.3.1 Direction of Gradient for Frequency Encoding........... 122
6.3.2 The Composite Signal from Frequency Encoding...... 123
6.3.3 Timing of Application of the Gradient Field for
Frequency Encoding........................................................ 125
6.3.4 Receiver Bandwidth......................................................... 125
6.4 The Frequency Encoding Demonstrator................................... 126
6.5 Effect of Gradient Strength and Receiver Bandwidth on
Field of View (FOV)...................................................................... 130
x Contents

6.5.1 Field of View..................................................................... 130

6.5.2 Pixel Size........................................................................... 130
6.5.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of a Small FOV......... 132
6.6 Additional Self-Assessment Questions...................................... 132
6.7 Chapter Summary........................................................................ 136

7 Phase Encoding....................................................................................... 137

7.1 Learning Outcomes...................................................................... 137
7.2 Principles of Phase Encoding...................................................... 137
7.3 Gradient Fields for Phase Encoding........................................... 138
7.3.1 Direction of Gradient for Phase Encoding................... 138
7.3.2 Timing of Application of Gradient Field for Phase
Encoding........................................................................... 138
7.4 The Phase Encoding Demonstrator............................................ 138
7.4.1 Phase Encoding Gradient Fields and Phase
Differences........................................................................ 140
7.5 The Effect of Gradient Strength and Duration on Phase
Shift................................................................................................. 142
7.6 Repeated Phase Encoding Steps................................................. 145
7.6.1 Increment in Gradient Field Strength with Phase
Encoding Step................................................................... 146
7.6.2 Increment in Phase Shift with Phase Encoding
Step..................................................................................... 147
7.6.3 FOV with Multiple Phase Encoding Steps................... 149
7.6.4 Pixel Size with Multiple Phase Encoding Steps.......... 150
7.7 The Data Matrix............................................................................ 150
7.8 Additional Self-Assessment Questions...................................... 152
7.9 Chapter Summary........................................................................ 154

8 The Spin-Echo Imaging Sequence...................................................... 155

8.1 Learning Outcomes...................................................................... 155
8.2 The Concept of the Spin-Echo Sequence................................... 155
8.3 Demonstration of the Principles of the Spin-Echo
Sequence......................................................................................... 156
8.3.1 The Spin-Echo Demonstrator......................................... 156
8.3.1.1 t = 0..................................................................... 158
8.3.1.2 0 < t << TE/2...................................................... 158
8.3.1.3 0 << t < TE/2 and t = TE/2.............................. 158
8.3.1.4 t = TE/2.............................................................. 160
8.3.1.5 TE/2 < t << TE and TE/2 << t < TE.................161
8.3.1.6 t = TE...................................................................161
8.3.2 Further Use of the Spin-Echo Demonstrator................161
8.3.2.1 Adjusting the Size of the Field
Inhomogeneities................................................161
8.3.2.2 Viewing a Movie of Dephasing...................... 163
Contents xi

8.4 TR and TE....................................................................................... 164

8.4.1 Repetition Time (TR)....................................................... 165
8.4.2 Time to Echo (TE)............................................................ 165
8.5 Timing Diagram............................................................................ 168
8.6 Additional Self-Assessment Questions...................................... 169
8.7 Chapter Summary........................................................................ 173

9 Scan Parameters for the Spin-Echo Imaging Sequence.................. 175

9.1 Learning Outcomes...................................................................... 175
9.2 Image Gray-Scale Characteristics............................................... 175
9.2.1 T1-Weighting, T2-Weighting, and Proton Density
Weighting Summarized...................................................176
9.2.1.1 T1-Weighting......................................................176
9.2.1.2 T2-Weighting......................................................176
9.2.1.3 Proton Density Weighting...............................176
9.2.2 Drawing Sketch Graphs.................................................. 178
9.2.2.1 Sketch 1.............................................................. 178
9.2.2.2 Sketch 2.............................................................. 178
9.2.2.3 Sketch 3.............................................................. 179
9.2.3 Contrast Agents and T1- and T2-Weighting................ 185
9.2.3.1 T1-Shortening Agents...................................... 185
9.2.3.2 T2-Shortening Agents...................................... 186
9.2.4 Additional Self-Assessment Questions........................ 186
9.3 Image Spatial Characteristics...................................................... 193
9.4 Image Noise Characteristics........................................................ 194
9.5 Scan Time....................................................................................... 199
9.6 The Spin-Echo Image Simulator................................................. 203
9.6.1 Weighting for Brain Imaging......................................... 203
9.6.2 Acquisition at the Crossover Point................................ 207
9.6.3 Weighting in a Test Object.............................................. 209
9.7 System Performance Assessment............................................... 210
9.8 Chapter Summary.........................................................................211
References..................................................................................................211

10 Further Imaging Sequences.................................................................. 213

10.1 Learning Outcomes...................................................................... 213
10.2 Inversion Recovery Sequence...................................................... 213
10.2.1 Principles of Inversion Recovery................................... 213
10.2.2 Magnitude Signals........................................................... 215
10.2.3 The Inversion Recovery Program.................................. 215
10.2.4 The Inversion Recovery Imaging Pulse Sequence...... 223
10.3 The Inversion Recovery Image Simulator................................. 228
10.3.1 Weighting for Brain Imaging......................................... 228
10.3.2 Nulling Fat in Brain Imaging......................................... 229
10.3.3 Nulling and Pathology Weighting in a Test Object.... 229
xii Contents

10.4 The Gradient-Echo Sequence....................................................... 231

10.4.1 Principles of the Gradient-Echo Sequence................... 231
10.4.2 The Gradient-Echo Imaging Pulse Sequence............... 232
10.4.3 The Ernst Angle............................................................... 234
10.4.4 The Steady State............................................................... 235
10.5 Flow Phenomena........................................................................... 237
10.5.1 Time-of-Flight Flow Phenomenon in Spin-Echo
Imaging............................................................................. 237
10.5.1.1 Condition for Signal Loss in Spin-Echo
Imaging.............................................................. 239
10.5.2 Time-of-Flight Flow Phenomenon in Gradient-
Echo Imaging.................................................................... 239
10.5.2.1 Condition for the Maximum Signal in
Gradient-Echo Imaging................................... 241
10.5.3 Phase Effects with Flow.................................................. 241
10.5.3.1 Intravoxel Effects Leading to Signal Loss..... 242
10.5.3.2 Pulsatile Flow and Ghosting.......................... 242
10.6 Flow Phenomena Demonstrator: Spin-Echo Imaging
Sequence......................................................................................... 242
10.7 Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA)............................... 245
10.7.1 Time-of-Flight Angiography.......................................... 246
10.7.2 Phase-Contrast Angiography......................................... 246
10.7.3 Contrast-Enhanced Angiography................................. 247
10.8 Chapter Summary........................................................................ 247
References................................................................................................. 248

11 Multiple-Choice Questions.................................................................. 249

11.1  Multiple-Choice Questions........................................................... 249
11.2  Answers to Multiple-Choice Questions...................................... 286
Index................................................................................................................. 291
Preface

The physics of magnetic resonance imaging is a little harder to understand

than the physics of other medical imaging modalities, but it is extremely
rewarding to develop an understanding because it makes future study and
work in the field much easier. Fundamentals of MRI: An Interactive Learning
Approach has been written to help readers gain confidence in the basic
concepts that underpin the field. The book and CD include more learn-
ing material than is usual; there are questions integrated throughout the
text and interactive exercises that make use of specially written computer
programs. Answers to all the activities are included, so the materials are
suitable for those undertaking self-directed study as well as those under-
taking academic study in medical imaging and related fields in a more
formal learning environment, with or without a clinical component.

Elizabeth Berry
Andrew Bulpitt

xiii
Acknowledgments

I gratefully acknowledge the many colleagues from whom I’ve learned

about MRI, especially John Ridgway.
E. B.

I would like to thank my colleagues for the advice and solutions offered
to resolve my Java queries.
A. B.

We are grateful to all those who gave permission for the reproduction of
their images or data.

xv
About the Authors

Elizabeth Berry, Ph.D., was born in 1961. She received a B.Sc. degree in
physics from the University of Hull in 1982 and a Ph.D. in applied optics
from Imperial College London in 1986. She held medical physicist posts in
Inverness and Bristol until 1993. From 1993 to 2005, she was lecturer and
then senior lecturer in medical imaging at the University of Leeds. Since
2005, she has been the director of Elizabeth Berry Ltd., and is currently an
associate lecturer with the Open University. Dr. Berry is a chartered scien-
tist, fellow of the Institute of Physics, and fellow of the Institute of Physics
and Engineering in Medicine.

Andrew Bulpitt, D.Phil., was born in 1969. He received a B.Eng. degree

in electronic engineering from the University of Liverpool in 1990 and
a D.Phil. in electronics from the University of York in 1994. From 1994
to 2000, he was a research fellow in medical imaging in the School of
Computing at the University of Leeds. He was appointed a lecturer in com-
puting in 2000 and is currently a senior lecturer in the school. Dr. Bulpitt
is a member of the Institute of Electronic Engineers.

xvii
1
Introduction

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is probably the most flexible of the

medical imaging modalities. Images in MRI can be acquired using many
different acquisition techniques, known as imaging pulse sequences,
and a whole range of images with differing contrast properties can be
achieved. A tissue can be made to give a signal higher or lower than
another tissue, or even to give no signal at all. All these possibilities are
a direct consequence of the physical principles that underpin the tech-
nique, which are fundamentally different from those of other medical
imaging methods. You may already be familiar with x-ray imaging, in
which images are formed by detecting the x-rays after they have been
attenuated by tissue. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with a high fre-
quency. Electromagnetic radiation is involved in MRI too, but in a very
different way. In MRI the radiation has a much lower frequency, and is
not attenuated by tissue and then detected. Instead, the radiation is one of
the components of the process of nuclear magnetic resonance, which also
requires an interaction between atomic nuclei and a strong magnetic field.
For MRI, the nuclei concerned are hydrogen nuclei, which are abundant
in the human body. Measuring the signals that the hydrogen nuclei emit
gives information about the tissue in which they are situated, and much
of the practice of MRI is concerned with ensuring that signals from hydro-
gen nuclei in an environment of interest can be clearly distinguished. To
engage with all the different ways in which an MR image can be acquired
requires an understanding of the basic principles and concepts. Such an
understanding is hugely valuable and provides a solid foundation because
the same principles form the basis of every imaging pulse sequence or
new development in the field.

1.1 The Fundamentals of MRI

This is a book about the fundamentals of magnetic resonance imaging,
and it is intended for readers just beginning to learn about MRI. Our aim
is to help the reader to gain confidence with the core concepts before he or
she moves on to further study or practical training.

1
2 Fundamentals of MRI: An Interactive Learning Approach

1.2 An Interactive Learning Approach

The contents of the book and the programs on the CD have been designed
to promote active learning. Active learning is the term used to describe learn-
ing by thinking, doing, and reflecting, and for many learners is a more pro-
ductive approach than more passive methods. The materials are designed
to support different learning styles and have been written with the knowl-
edge that some readers will find equations informative, while others may
prefer a wordy explanation of relationships between parameters.
In this book, the interactive learning approach means that not only is
factual information presented, but there are also questions and exercises
integrated with the text, to help reinforce the concepts studied. Answers
follow immediately after the questions because the questions are part
of the learning process rather than a testing tool. The 10 interactive pro-
grams on the CD are an integral part of the book. Four examples of the
user interfaces to the programs are shown in Figure 1.1. The programs not
only allow the concepts introduced in the printed material to be clearly
demonstrated and further developed, but also provide the reader with the
opportunity to engage in the learning process through guided exercises
and by exploring the concepts in his or her own way.
It is recommended that you install the programs before starting to
work through the book, so that you can access them easily when they are
needed. If you are using a Windows® * operating system, this process is
described in the next section. If you are using a different operating sys-
tem, read Section 1.4 instead.

1.3 Using the Programs from Windows ® Operating Systems

1.3.1 Program Setup Options
The software provided on the CD is written in Java®† to enable it to be
used on different operating systems. The programs therefore require
a compatible version of the Java Runtime Environment to be used. The
setup program for Windows determines if Java is already installed on
your computer and whether or not the version you have is compatible
with the programs provided on the CD. If not, it will give you the option
to install the version of Java supplied on the CD.
If you do not have the rights to install software on your computer, per-
haps because you are using a shared computer or one supplied by your

* Registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington, United States.

† Java and all Java-based marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Micro­

systems, Inc., Santa Clara, California, in the United States and other countries.
Introduction 3

(a)

Figure 1.1
Examples of the user interfaces for the interactive programs that are integrated with the
material in this book. (a) The Saturation Recovery program (Chapters 4 and 9), (b) the Slice
Selection program (Chapter 5), (c) the Phase Encoding Demonstrator (Chapter 7), and (d) the
Flow Phenomena Demonstrator (Chapter 10).

employer, or if you simply do not wish to install any software, this is not
a problem. The programs can be run directly from the CD, as indicated in
the next section.

1.3.2 Running Programs Directly from the CD

If you do not wish to run the installation program, or if the automatic
setup fails, you can run the programs directly from CD:

• Insert the CD into the CD-ROM/DVD drive.

• Open the “Fundamentals of MRI (X:)” folder in My Computer or
Windows Explorer.
4 Fundamentals of MRI: An Interactive Learning Approach

(b)

(c)

Figure 1.1 (continued)

• Locate and double-click on RunFromCD.bat.

• Select the program you require from the menu under the Run
from CD tab (Figure 1.2).
Introduction 5

(d)

Figure 1.1 (continued)

1.3.3 Running the Setup Program

The setup program (which is called FundamentalsOfMri.bat) will
determine if Java is already installed on your computer and, if required,
will give you the option to install the version of Java supplied on the CD.
Note that once the setup program has determined which version of Java
to use, it will use this version whenever you run the programs in the
future.

• Insert the CD into the CD-ROM/DVD drive:

a. If the CD AutoRun feature is enabled, the installation will
test to see if Java exists on your computer, and if it is already
installed, the window shown in Figure 1.2 will appear on your
monitor.
b. If the CD AutoRun feature is disabled:
−− Double-click to open the CD entitled “Fundamentals of
MRI (X:)” in My Computer or Windows Explorer.
−− If the window shown in Figure 1.2 does not open, locate
and double-click on FundamentalsOfMri.bat on the CD.
• If a compatible version of Java was found not to exist on your com-
puter, then the Java Runtime Environment setup program will be
launched. If you wish to install Java, follow the instructions on
the screen.
• Do not worry if the Java Runtime installation is unsuccessful, or
if you do not wish to install Java. You will still be able to access
6 Fundamentals of MRI: An Interactive Learning Approach

Figure 1.2
The user interface for the Fundamentals of MRI programs. If you choose to install the pro-
grams to your computer, you will see this window only at the time of installation. If you
choose to run the programs from CD, then you will see this window every time you wish
to run a program.

the programs directly from the CD, as indicated in Section 1.3.2,

using the file RunFromCD.bat.

1.3.4 Installing the Programs

The setup program also provides you with the option to install all the pro-
grams on your computer. This means that you will not have to use the CD
every time, but it has the additional benefit that the programs will be auto-
matically updated from the book Web site at www.fundamentalsofmri.
com. Downloads of the latest versions of the programs will occur when-
ever an update is detected, so installing the programs will allow us to
provide you with updates of programs automatically if required.

• Select the tab labeled Install. The window shown in Figure 1.3
will appear.
• Click on the Install All Programs button.
Introduction 7

Figure 1.3
The installation interface for the Fundamentals of MRI programs. Installing the programs
means that downloads of the latest versions of the programs will occur automatically.

• The programs will be installed to your computer and short-

cuts to the programs will be added from the start menu, under
Fundamentals of MRI.
• When the installation is complete, a confirmation message will
appear, and you can close the program using the cross in the top-
right-hand corner.

1.3.5 Running the Installed Programs

• The CD is not required.
• Click on Start | All Programs | Fundamentals of MRI
• Select the program that you require from the list.

Note that the first time the programs are run it may be necessary to set
the computer’s firewall so that Java can operate and the book website be
accessed for updates.
8 Fundamentals of MRI: An Interactive Learning Approach

1.3.6 Uninstalling the Programs

It is recommended that you use the CD:

• Insert the CD into the CD-ROM/DVD drive.

• Open the “Fundamentals of MRI (X:)” folder in My Computer or
Windows Explorer.
• Locate and double-click on FundamentalsOfMRI.bat.
• Select the tab labeled Install. The window shown in Figure 1.3 will
appear.
• Click on the Remove all programs button.
• When the removal of programs is complete a confirmation mes-
sage will appear, and you can close the program using the cross
in the top right-hand corner.

If you do not have the CD:

• Click on Start | All Programs | Fundamentals of MRI.

• Select the Uninstall Program option from the list, and wait—there
may be a delay.
• If a security warning appears, click on the Run option.
• Click on the Remove all programs button.
• When the removal of programs is complete a confirmation mes-
sage will appear, and you can close the program using the cross
in the top right-hand corner.

1.4 Non-Windows Operating Systems

The software provided on the CD is written in Java to enable it to be
used on different operating systems. The programs can be used from
non-­Windows operating systems if Java is already installed on your
computer.

• Insert the CD into the CD-ROM/DVD drive.

• Run the file OtherOS.jar. In some cases, double-clicking on the
file in a window will work; otherwise, enter java -jar OtherOS.
jar at the command line.
• The window shown in Figure 1.2 will appear.
• Select the program you require from the menu under the Run
from CD tab.
Introduction 9

1.5 Structure of the Book

The first two chapters form the introduction to the book, with information
in this chapter about the computer programs, and background informa-
tion that is needed for understanding material presented later in the book
provided in Chapter 2. Background mathematics, physics, and digital
imaging are all included, and there is also a table of key clinical imaging
terms. Some readers will be happy to skim Chapter 2, returning to it as a
reference resource when required. Others may prefer to work through the
whole chapter, or specific parts, before proceeding to the rest of the book.
For the latter group, the first 50 multiple-choice questions in Chapter 11
cover the same ground and will be useful for revision.
The main material is contained in Chapters 3 to 10 and the associated
Fundamentals of MRI programs. Activities involving the programs form a
significant part of each chapter, which is one reason it is recommended
that the programs be installed on your computer, where they will be eas-
ily accessible when needed. In every chapter, questions and exercises are
integrated within the text. The questions form part of the learning process,
and because they are not there for assessment, the answer is provided
immediately after each question. Readers will quickly get used to ignor-
ing the text immediately after each question until they are ready to read
it. Most of the chapters introduce new concepts and give many opportuni-
ties to work toward a satisfactory understanding. In Chapter 10, although
new ideas are introduced, they can be explained by applying the concepts
covered in the preceding chapters. This will be the case for many other
topics in the field when they are encountered in the future.
The final chapter of the book contains multiple-choice questions that
are suitable for revision and reflection. The 150 questions are organized
in the same order as the material appears in the book, and in such a way
that the reader can select a subset of questions either to cover all of the
material or to concentrate on specific areas. Answers, and some further
feedback, appear separately at the end of the chapter.
2
Mathematics, Physics, and Imaging
for MRI

This chapter contains a range of background information that is assumed

in the later chapters of the book. Few people, however, will want to work
through the whole chapter in detail before starting to read about mag-
netic resonance imaging (MRI) in Chapter 3. The best approach is to
skim through this chapter on first reading the book, so that you have a
rough idea of what it covers. Then refer back to it when required. Four
subjects are covered. The first and longest section concerns mathematics.
Concepts including vectors, the exponential function, and Fourier analysis
are included here. There is also a table that highlights where in the book
the mathematical concepts are applied. The second subject is physics. Just
a few areas are included to underpin the discussion of the basic principles
of MRI in Chapter 3. Concepts associated with digital images (such as the
pixel and signal-to-noise ratio) are outlined in the third section. The chap-
ter closes with definitions of key clinical imaging terms. Multiple-choice
questions on all of this material are included in Chapter 11.

2.1 Learning Outcomes
When you have worked through this chapter you should have sufficient
understanding of the aspects of mathematics, physics, imaging, and clinical
imaging terminology covered here to follow the material presented in the rest
of the book.

2.2 Mathematics for MRI

2.2.1 Trigonometric Functions
2.2.1.1 Sine, Cosine, and Tangent
The sine, cosine, and tangent of an angle can be defined in a right-angled
triangle (Figure 2.1). The sides have lengths a, b, and c. The side (c) opposite

11
12 Fundamentals of MRI: An Interactive Learning Approach

c
b
angle
a

Figure 2.1
A right-angled triangle, used to define the relationships for sine, cosine, and tangent.

the right angle is called the hypotenuse. The angle angle can be expressed in
terms of the side lengths in three ways:

b
(
sin angle = ) c
(2.1)

a
(
cos angle = ) c
(2.2)

(
tan angle =) =
(
b sin angle ) (2.3)
(
a cos angle )
Some people find it helpful to use a mne-
monic for remembering these relationships. h
To use with a mnemonic, the sides of the tri- o
angle need to be renamed as in Figure 2.2, and θ
the equations arranged as a

o o a Figure 2.2
t= , s= , c= Right-angled triangle, with
a h h the sides labeled to help with
remembering the expressions
where t = tan θ, s = sin θ, and c = cos θ, and o, a, for sine, cosine, and tangent
of the angle θ. The side adja-
and h are as shown in Figure 2.2. These letters
cent to the angle θ is a, the
(toasohcah) can then be used as the first letters side opposite the angle θ is o,
of the words in a nine-word sentence that you and the hypotenuse (the side
find easy to remember. opposite the right angle) is h.

2.2.1.2 Inverse Sine, Cosine, and Tangent

The expressions for sine, cosine, and tangent can be inverted. For example,
the angle whose tangent is b/a (Figure 2.1) can be expressed in two differ-
ent ways (Equations 2.4 and 2.5), which mean the same thing:
Mathematics, Physics, and Imaging for MRI 13

b
angle = tan −1   (2.4)
a

b
angle = arctan   (2.5)
a

Similarly,

b
angle = sin −1   (2.6)
c

a
angle = cos−1   (2.7)
c

2.2.1.3 Relationships between the Trigonometric Functions

Note that the square of a sine, tangent, or cosine is usually written with
the square notation immediately following the symbol sin, cos, or tan. For
example, the square of the cosine of angle is written cos2 (angle) rather than
the more unwieldy [cos (angle)]2. The following relationship is sometimes
needed:

( ) (
sin 2 angle + cos 2 angle = 1 ) (2.8)

2.2.1.4 Degrees and Radians

You will be familiar with degrees, which are Table 2.1
units used to express the size of angles. For Commonly Used Angles
example, a right angle is 90°, and 360° corre-
Degrees Radians
sponds with a full rotation. Radians are an
alternative unit for measuring angles, and 0 0
they allow angles to be expressed as fractions 90 π/2
or multiples of the constant π. Some useful 180 π
angles are shown in Table 2.1. 270 3π/2
360 2π

2.2.1.5 Phase Differences Note: The angle π/2 is usually

read as “pi by two.”
The sine and cosine of an angle change in
a predictable way as the size of the angle is
14 Fundamentals of MRI: An Interactive Learning Approach

1.0

0.5

Angle
sin(Angle)

0.0
2π 4π 6π 8π 10π

–0.5

–1.0

Figure 2.3
The change in the value of the function sin(Angle) with Angle. The value of Angle increases
along the horizontal axis from 0 to 10π radians. The function has values between –1 and +1.
Note how the function crosses the horizontal axis (where the function has the value 0) at 0,
π, 2π, 3π, 4π…. The wavelength of sin(Angle) is 2π.

1.0

0.5

Angle
cos(Angle)

0.0
2π 4π 6π 8π 10π

–0.5

–1.0

Figure 2.4
The change in the value of the function cos(Angle) with Angle. The value of Angle increases
along the horizontal axis from 0 to 10π radians. Like sin(Angle), the function has values
between –1 and +1, and a wavelength of 2π. However, cos(Angle) is shifted with respect
to sin(Angle); cos(Angle) has the value +1 when Angle = 0, but sin(Angle) has the value 0 at
Angle = 0.

changed. The function sin(Angle) is shown in Figure 2.3, and cos(Angle) in

Figure 2.4. The two functions look rather similar, and both have a wave-
length of 2π. However, they are shifted along the Angle axis with respect
to one another. If both functions are plotted on the same graph, this shift
can be seen more clearly (Figure 2.5). In Figure 2.5, only one cycle of the
wave is plotted. We see that sin(Angle) is shifted to the right of cos(Angle)
by π/2 radians (that is, by 90°). This shift is called a phase shift or phase dif-
ference. The functions sin(Angle) and cos(Angle) are identical except for a
phase difference of π/2.
Mathematics, Physics, and Imaging for MRI 15

1.0
sin(Angle) cos(Angle)

0.5

Angle
0.0
π/2 π 3π/2 2π

–0.5

–1.0

Figure 2.5
The relationship between the functions sin(Angle) and cos(Angle).

2.2.2 Vectors y
5
2.2.2.1 Definition of a Vector
Vectors are used to define quanti-
ties that have both a size (magni-
tude or amplitude) and a direction.
x
For example, velocity is a vector, but –5 α 5
speed is not. Vectors can be plotted A –3
using the familiar axes of rectangular
(Cartesian) coordinates, but a com- 4
pact way to represent the two quanti- –5
ties associated with vectors is to use
polar coordinates. The two variables Figure 2.6
in polar coordinates are amplitude and A vector illustrated using rectangular
angle. A vector in polar coordinates is and polar coordinates. The amplitude, A,
illustrated in Figure 2.6. of the vector is 5 and the angle α is –37°.

The amplitude A of the vector is given by

A = x2 + y 2 (2.9)

The angle of the vector α is

y
α = tan −1   (2.10)
x

Equation 2.10 gives the angle between the vector and the x axis. The phase
of a vector is an angle between 0 and 360°, measured in an anticlockwise
direction from the positive x axis. For the vector in Figure 2.6, the phase
is (360 – 37)° = 323°.
16 Fundamentals of MRI: An Interactive Learning Approach

y y

Asinα Asinα
A A

α α
x x
Acosα Acosα

Figure 2.7 Figure 2.8

The vector is broken down, or resolved, How to drop perpendiculars (dashed
into two component vectors (gray) at right lines) to resolve vectors.
angles to each other.

2.2.2.2 Resolving Vectors
A vector can be broken down into component vectors at right angles to
each other. These are known as orthogonal components, and the process
is known as resolving a vector (Figure 2.7). The size of the x component
is given by Acosα, and the size of the y component by Asinα (using the
basic trigonometry covered in Section 2.2.1). The components can be indi-
cated in a sketch by dropping perpendiculars from the vector to the axes
(Figure 2.8). In the example of Figure 2.6, the x component has the value 4
and the y component is –3.
Resolving vectors into two orthogonal components is very useful
because the two components can be treated independently. This indepen-
dence arises because the magnitude of the component of a vector in a
direction at 90° to its own line of action is always equal to zero.

Question 2.1
(a) In Figure 2.9a, what is the y component of the vector shown?
(b) In Figure 2.9b, what are the x and y components of the vector
shown?
(c) In Figure 2.9c, what is the x component of the vector shown?
(d) In Figure 2.9d, if the y component of the vector is 4, what is the
phase angle α of the vector?
(e) Sketch Figure 2.9e and add the x and y components of the vector.
(f) Sketch Figure 2.9f and add the x and y components of the vector.
(g) Sketch Figure 2.9g and add the x and y components of the vector.
(h) Sketch Figure 2.9h and add the x and y components of the vector.
Mathematics, Physics, and Imaging for MRI 17

y y y y
10
5 5 8

37° 45° 143° α°

x x x x

(a) (b) (c) (d)

y y y y

x x x x

(e) (f) (g) (h)

Figure 2.9
(a–h) Diagrams for Question 2.1.

y y y y

x x x x

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Figure 2.10
(a–d) Feedback on Question 2.1, parts (e) to (h).

Answer
The answers are (a) y = 3, (b) x = 7.07, y = 7.07, (c) x = –4, (d) α = 30°. The
completed sketches for parts (e) to (h) are shown in Figure 2.10.

2.2.2.3 Adding Vectors
When vectors are added it is necessary to take into account both their
magnitude and their direction. For example, two vectors might have equal
magnitude, but act in opposite directions. In this case, the result of adding
the two vectors is zero.
The easiest way to add vectors, particularly if there are lots of them,
is first to resolve each vector into its x and y components, then to add
up each component separately. For example, consider the five vectors in
18 Fundamentals of MRI: An Interactive Learning Approach

Table 2.2
The Five Vectors Shown in Figure 2.11
Vector x Component y Component
a 4 3
b 0 5
c –4 –3
d 5 0
e –3 4
Sum 2 9

y
10
Resultant
vector

b
e a

d
x
–10 –5 5 10
c

–10

Figure 2.11
Vector addition using components. The magnitude of the resultant vector for the vectors
listed in Table 2.2 is ( 2 2 + 9 2 ) = 9.2.

Table 2.2 and Figure 2.11, which all have the magnitude 5 but have differ-
ent directions.

Question 2.2
Calculate the values for sums and vector magnitudes that should
appear in the empty cells marked with an asterisk in Table 2.3. Draw a
sketch showing each of the vectors listed in the table and their sum.

Answer
The vector magnitudes in the right-hand column of the table all have
the value 13. The sum of the x components is –5, and the sum of the
y components is 22. The vector magnitude is 22.56. A sketch of the
vectors is in Figure 2.12.
Mathematics, Physics, and Imaging for MRI 19

Table 2.3
Table for Question 2.2
Vector x Component y Component Vector Magnitude
a 5 12 *
b 12 5 *
c –5 –12 *
d –5 12 *
e –12 5 *
Sum * * —
Resultant *
vector
magnitude

y
25
Resultant
vector

d a
e
b
x
–25 25
c

–25

Figure 2.12
Feedback for Question 2.2.

Question 2.3
Calculate the values that should appear in the empty cells marked
with an asterisk in Table 2.4, and draw a sketch showing each of the
vectors and their sum.

Answer
The x component of vector a is 3. The vector magnitude of vector b is
5. The y component of vector c is 24. The vector magnitude of vector d
is 15. The sum of the x components is 5, and the sum of the y compo-
nents is 37. The vector magnitude is 37.3. A sketch of the vectors is
shown in Figure 2.13.
20 Fundamentals of MRI: An Interactive Learning Approach

Table 2.4
Table for Question 2.3
Vector x Component y Component Vector Magnitude
a * 4 5
b 4 –3 *
c 7 * 25
d –9 12 *
Sum * * —
Resultant *
vector
magnitude

y
40
Resultant
vector

c
d

a
x
–10 b 10

–40

Figure 2.13
Feedback for Question 2.3.

Question 2.4
Calculate the values that should appear in the empty cells marked
with an asterisk in Table 2.5, and draw a sketch showing each of the
vectors and their sum.

Answer
The sum of the x components is 0, the sum of the y components is
0, and the resultant vector magnitude is 0. A sketch of the vectors
is shown in Figure 2.14. This is a special case of the situation where
there is a large number of randomly oriented vectors, which cancel
each other out and have a resultant of 0.
Mathematics, Physics, and Imaging for MRI 21

Table 2.5
Table for Question 2.4
Vector x Component y Component Vector Magnitude
a 0 1 1
b 0 –1 1
c 1 0 1
d –1 0 1
Sum * * —
Resultant *
vector
magnitude

y
2

d c
x
–2 2

–2

Figure 2.14
Feedback for Question 2.4.

2.2.3 Three-Dimensional Vectors
In MRI we will work with three-dimensional vectors (Figure 2.15). Usually
the three-dimensional vector is described in terms of two components.
The first is the component in the z direction (longitudinal), and the sec-
ond is a single component in the xy plane (transverse). Just like any other
two-dimensional vector, the xy component could itself be resolved into
separate x and y components. These separate components in the xy plane
are sometimes called the real and imaginary components, or the in-phase
and in-quadrature components, of the MR signal.
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"We're in!" shouted Pete Thurman.
"Thank God!" breathed McBride. "I'm going to call the Lens and tell
Doc Caldwell that I'm on the way—Hammond, what is that woman
doing?"
The accelerometer had passed twenty, and was approaching twenty-
five.
"Probably bunged the accelerometers out of sync when we crash-
landed," said Hammond. "They're the standard Hooke
Accelerometers, you know, and we may have stretched the spring a
bit. She'll stop soon."
"It's all right," said McBride. "It just makes us get there sooner, but
she shouldn't be playing with the drive this close to Pluto. If we've
missed something, we'll smack."
The meter passed thirty and headed for forty feet per second per
second.
"Little over one Terran G," mentioned Pete. "She probably has the
usual Pilot's Fever."
"I know," agreed Hammond, "but her inherent desire to grab sky
shouldn't make her play foolish with a brand-new drive."
The meter touched fifty for an instant and then went on up toward
sixty. It did not stop at the green line that indicated two Terran G, but
passed it and proceeded on toward seventy feet per. It climbed to
eighty, passed, approached ninety, passed, and still climbed with a
precise linearity that made the men admire the steady hand on the
main power lever in spite of whose hand it was.
At one hundred feet per second per second, Hammond said: "When
is that dame going to stop?"
"Call her down," suggested Larry.
"Better wait. No use making her nervous this close to Pluto. Bawl her
out and she's likely to make the wrong move—and one move would
be too much!"
The pressure of 4-G held them to their padded seats, and their heads
were fixed immobile in the head braces, all watching the dial climb. It
passed one-thirty, went on up the dial to one-forty, and then the voice
of Sandra Drake said, weakly:
"When are you fools going to stop?"

Hammond gaped. "Who? Us?"

"Who else?" snapped Drake.
The meter touched one-fifty.
"We're not doing anything. Level off, Drake, or you'll squash us flat!"
"You level off. I haven't had the power lever since I adjusted it before I
hit the main switch. I can't even lift my arm now; I didn't expect you to
run this heap of junk from up there and so I didn't adjust the arm
rest."
The dial crept up past one-sixty.
"But we're not running it from here," yelled McBride. "We haven't
touched a thing since Hammond told you to take it up at twenty feet
per."
The automatic respirators started to work, pumping their rib-cages in
rhythm with their own breathing urges, and they sank into the
enveloping folds of the elastomer cushions which supported their
bodies. The meter hit one-seventy and passed it.
"Then who is running the soup up?" came back the labored voice of
Sandra Drake. "If this is just a joke, cut it. I can't take much more."
"You—and all of us are doing well to take what we're getting now,"
stormed McBride. "Who—"
"Something's amiss somewhere," said Hammond thoughtfully. "At this
point, any gagster would quit. Look at the meter. One hundred and
ninety feet per! Almost 7-G! Uh—"

Black waves and dizziness came, shrouding little dazzles of colored

pinpoints that danced before the eyes. The meter touched two
hundred feet per second per second acceleration, and then the drive
was cut with a snap. The compressed elastomer rebounded, almost
throwing the men from their chairs, but the cover bars held them in.
The drive was completely off; acceleration zero.
"Drake! Get the inertia switch in again!" called Hammond.
"Going in," came the weakened voice of the pilot.
The original twenty feet per started again, and it began to climb, just
as it did before. "Stay alive," said Hammond to Drake. "We need you
to shove the inertia switch in if nothing else."
"I don't care to die," came her hard voice. "I'll keep alive. You pack of
fools figure out what's wrong with your invention, that's all I ask."
"Can you crank the inertia switch down to about 5-G?" asked Pete.
"Make it a hundred and fifty feet per. Then sit there and shove it in
every time it comes out until we can get out of Pluto's grip. We've got
to have a stable place before we can do any fixing."
"You and your jackrabbit drive," jeered Sandra Drake. "Concocted by
the best brains in space. Baloney—the best space in brains, I call
'em."
"Some day," promised McBride, "I'm going to spank that woman—
with a hairbrush!"
The meter rode up steadily to one-fifty, and then dropped to zero with
a click. The oil switch closed again, and the meter started up the
scale once again. This time McBride timed it.
"Steve," he said. "We're running at twenty per, original setting, and
the acceleration is increasing at the rate of twenty feet per, also. That
means our velocity is increasing at the rate of twenty feet per second
per second per second."
"Something screwy. Larry, grab a few tools and ride below and fix that
inertia switch so that it will close automatically. No use making Drake
sit there punching on that control button every seven and one half
seconds. We're going to be running this way for a couple of hours
before we get to safe space."
"A couple of hours?" groaned Drake. "Listen, geniuses, is there any
reason why I couldn't flatten this chair out? This is killing me."
"Look, Larry, make that switch cut out at 2-G. Sandra, set your drive
for 1-G. It'll jerk our guts to pieces, but we'll be doing about the same
as any ship under a 1-G drive—no, we'll be doing better. Something
in this heap is making us accelerate our acceleration; we're working
on the second derivative. That means—"
"That means," put in McBride, "that we're running on the rate of
change of acceleration, which is the rate of change of velocity. Now
under this drive, we have a new factor, which we can call 'R' and
which stands for the rate of change of acceleration. Then, since our
acceleration is increasing with respect to time, the linear equation:
V=AT no longer holds to express our velocity at the end of T seconds.
Our first equation under this rule becomes one to find the
acceleration after T seconds under R rate of change of acceleration.
Follow? We have Equation One:
(1) A=RT
Then to find the true velocity at the end of T seconds and so forth, we
take the integral of that, and we have:
(2) V=1/2RT2
To get the distance covered in T seconds at R rate of change, we
integrate once more and come up with ... ah, let's see—Oh, sure:
(3) D=1/6RT3
Is that clear?"
"I'd like to see that one worked out on a blackboard," said Jimmy. "At
the present, I'll take your word for it. What I'm interested in right now
is: does this factor 'R' increase with the power setting?"
"Drake just lifted it to thirty feet per," said Hammond, "and I've been
timing it. So far, it does."
"Steve," said McBride, "if we can figure out some way of keeping
ourselves from getting killed as the acceleration hits the upper
brackets, we'll have a drive that will get us places like fury. Think fast,
brother."
Hammond looked up, just as the acceleration reached a peak, and it
snapped his head sharply. "Whew," he said. "This is fine stuff, but we
couldn't run anywhere very long this way. We'd shake the whole crate
loose." He was thoughtful for a minute. "Don't suppose that
blackboard mind of yours could figure out our course constants from
this saw-toothed curve we're running?"
"Sure," grinned McBride. "Since the thing is not increasing constantly,
but is returning to zero accel each time and then building up linearly
to peak, our over-all, long-time acceleration is equivalent to the
average acceleration. Besides, what difference does it make? We'll
get there somehow, and we can probably plot well enough to keep
from doing a lot of return-chasing to hit the lens."
"O.K., but we're going to have to figure a way out of this. I couldn't
stand knowing anything like this drive without trying to make it
practical."
"Wait until we can talk without getting our tongues bitten off by this
drive of yours, and we'll go to work on it."
McBride said: "And I'd say let's do it quick! Enid needs me—"

Sandra Drake forced the jack-rabbitting ship into a cockeyed orbit

about Pluto after a couple of hours. They had nosebleed, jittery
nerves, aching muscles, and voracious appetites by the time the drive
was cut. They ate, smoked, took showers, and then decided to call a
conference.
Hammond opened it by saying: "There's one quick way to do this. It's
on everybody's tongue, but I have the floor and I'll voice it first. To
keep from getting squashed by our own weight under a few thousand
feet per, we need something to take up the shock—something to
counterbalance the gravity-apparent. Jimmy, how many
mechanogravitic generators have we aboard?"
"Two, including the one we're running in the drive right now. It is as
big, however."
"How's the output of our patched-together alphatron?"
"Plenty. The coil of the E-grav was much oversize, and since
electrons will rush in where alphons fear to tread, we've plenty of
soup."
"Then we'll set the other mech-grav up in the nose, and extend the
warp down to envelop the ship. Right?"
"Right. And now for some kind of safety factor? Supposing something
goes blooey?" asked Pete. "And how do we maintain the relationship
between the drive's power and the counter-drive's attraction?"
"Weight-driven power controls for the counter-drive. Inertia switches
for safety. Interlocking circuits for every factor so that either the drive
failure will knock out the counter-drive, or vice versa. We'll build this
like an electric lock, so that the whole shebang must be right on the
button before she'll move. Then the failure of any part to perform will
stop all parts simultaneously. It'll probably be jerky at first, but the
prime function is to get Mac to Station 1, and from there on in we can
tinker with this thing until hell freezes over. O.K., let's hustle the
mech-grav into the nose."
Installing the mech-grav generator in the nose of the ship was not a
difficult job, since it weighed exactly nothing with the ship in an orbit
about Pluto. But the intricate job of hooking the equipment together
was to be more difficult.
They rammed holes in the bulk-heads to pass cables. They tore out
whole sections of unimportant wiring circuits to get wire for the
interlocking circuits—and when the terminals were there, the relays
and inertia switches had to be made or converted from existing
equipment.
Sandra Drake was of little help. She could make the ship perform to
within a thousandth of an inch of its design, and perhaps add a few
items that the designers hadn't included, but her knowledge of the
works was small. She hadn't thought it necessary or desirable to
understand, beyond the rudiments, how the drive worked.
In fact, up to the present time she had scorned the knowledge of any
higher intricacies; her idea had always been that men were paid to
think these things out and she was in a position to pay them for their
knowledge. Let them do it, and give them hell if it was not right. Her
hiring them automatically gave her the right to order them around like
slaves, and since the laws that govern space travel are such that a
ship's pilot or owner may demand attention to the ship, Sandra
demanded such attention, needed or not.
But this was the second time in less than a year that she had seen
men working with equipment. Before, it had been her fault, and she
had sniffed at their labors in a scornful attitude, gaining their hatred
as she had gained the dislike of so many others.
This time it was slightly different. She had been sandbagged into this
job and now it seemed as though her own life depended upon the
clearness of the minds of the men who worked over the equipment.
So she entered this strange world of nuts and bolts and small tools
strewn around in profusion, and stood amazed at the order that was
being worked out of chaos. It was apparent to her that some
semblance to order must be present, since they knew where to turn
to pick up the right tool, and because the right part was always less
than a foot from their ready hands.

A headstrong, spoiled brat she may have been, but Sandra Drake
was by no means unintelligent. After John McBride had cut off a tiny
lathe-turning just in time to hand it to Pete, who seemed to need it at
exactly that moment to fit into his instrument, Sandra said to McBride:
"Is there any pattern to all this mess?"
"If there weren't, we'd really be in a mess." He opened the chuck,
advanced the rod a few inches, and started to turn the rod down to
size again.
"This," said Sandra in that infuriating voice, "is order, neatness, and
efficiency?"
"We like it," answered McBride, his eyes on the cross-feed vernier. "It
may not look like a drawing room, but we know what we're doing."
"Do you? Is this a sample of how the place looks every time the
Haywire Queen goes out to experiment?"
"Undoubtedly."
"Why couldn't it be neat and clean?"
"Because we can't replace every tool back in the cabinet when we
are ready to lay it down for a minute. Because it is far better to run
cutting chips all over the floor and sweep 'em up once instead of
running the broom every seven seconds after each chip. Because it is
easier to work this way."
"Well," said Sandra, unimpressed, "the Haywire Queen seems
deserving of her name."
"There have been a lot of ticklish space problems fought out in her,"
replied McBride. "Just as we're fighting one now."
"But where are your drawings? Where are your plans? Where are
your calculations?"
"Our drawings will be made by draftsmen when we make the thing
work," answered McBride. "No sense in having a sheaf of drawings
when we'll change the thing a dozen times before it is perfected. Our
plans are step-by-step, and any result from one step may change our
next step. Our calculations and mathematical deductions will be
handled by brilliant mathematicians who can twist simple formulas
around to fit the observed data by adding or subtracting abstract
terms that fit the case."
"Sounds slightly slipshod to me."
McBride cut the part from the bar and handed it to Pete. "Enough?"
he asked, and Pete nodded over his shoulder.
"You can start on part two," he called.
McBride replaced the bar with a larger one and started to work it into
shape. "We don't need drawings," he said. "I know what Pete wants
and how they should fit together and they're fairly simple parts. He
knows what he wants and knows that I know also, so why should we
make a lot of sketches for something trivial?"
"It seems to me that this is far from trivial," said Sandra pettishly.
"You're playing with the lives of us all."
"Your life wasn't worth a peanut when you tried to run through the
lens," said McBride. "Why quibble now?"
"I lived through it," said Drake.
"You'll live through this, perhaps," said McBride. "Besides, we're not
too worried about our own lives. We're all willing to take a chance on
them for Enid."
"Yeah?" drawled Sandra sourly. "How about the rest of them? That's
only speaking for yourself."
Steve Hammond called from across the room: "What he said still
goes. He'd do as much for me!"
"Just a big bunch of mutual admirers," sneered Sandra. "Always
sticking together in a pinch."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Why didn't you think of your wife a long time ago instead of worrying
now. Fine show of nerves for the public consumption!"
"Miss Drake, as far as we are concerned, you haven't been properly
treated. Somewhere in the Good Book is a reference to sparing the
rod and spoiling the child. Do your parents twist their faces in anguish
every time they see you? They should. Anyone who has foisted upon
this solar system a stinking little, unfeeling rotter like yourself should
hate to be alone with their thoughts. Now get out of here and let us
alone."
Sandra moved back at the harshness of his voice. McBride looked
behind her and instinctively put out a hand to stop her; but Sandra
thought that the move meant violence and moved back faster. She
collided with a dangling wire from the alphatron and went rigid. She
toppled, as stiff as a board.
"Great Space!" exploded Hammond. "Jimmy, how much was that?"
"Nine hundred alphons," answered Jimmy, looking at the meters on
the alphatron and making a quick calculation. "Not enough to harm.
She's just had all of her voluntary nervous system paralyzed."
McBride stooped, picked her up, and carried her to a work-chair,
which he kicked horizontal with his foot and dropped her into it. He
went to the medicine cabinet and filled a hypo which he shot into her
arm. Gradually her too-regular breathing became humanly irregular
again and she moved to get up.
"Stay there," said McBride.
"Rest a bit," advised Hammond.
"And remember next time," warned Jimmy, "that this kind of a place is
no place to walk backwards. Another two hundred alphons—and that
is far from impossible—and you'd have been extremely dead." He
wiped his forehead with a dirty cloth, mopping the beads of nervous
perspiration away.
"I suppose that would have left you without a pilot," said Sandra. Her
sharp remark lacked her usual conviction, however, and she realized
that it fell flat. She got out of the chair and left abruptly.

"Well, I'll be—"

"Be careful," said Larry. "She isn't worth it."
"I'm going to take the bad taste out of my mouth by calling the Lens,"
announced McBride.
"Go ahead," offered Pete. "We'll polish off here and by the time you're
through, we'll make a stab at it!"
McBride got a through connection to Station 1, and Dr. Caldwell came
to the phone.
"Doc," asked McBride. "How's Enid?"
"Touch and go, lad. We're still fighting."
"Bad?"
"I'm afraid to say 'no' to that one," answered Caldwell in a tight voice.
"What does she say?"
"She's been in a coma ever since the fall, except for a minute or two
in which she called for you. John, I shouldn't have sent you away."
"Don't worry about that one. After all, you didn't know she was going
to take a header."
"Yeah, but—"
"You fix her up and we'll forget it."
"But suppose—"
"Doc, is it that bad?"
"I can not deny that she would be infinitely better off if you were here.
She needs an emotional lift."
"I'm trying."
"I know, lad, but the next ship off of Pluto is in five days and then four
more days of flight at a killing drive. Nine interminable days."
McBride debated the advisability of telling Caldwell of their
experiment, but decided against it. If he said anything about the
possibility of getting there sooner, Caldwell might tell Enid on the
chance that it might do her some good. On the other hand, if Enid
thought he were coming, and he did not come, the shock—
"O.K., Doc. We'll get there somehow."
"We'll keep fighting," said Caldwell.
He hung up the phone as Hammond spoke into the communicator.
"Sunward at thirty feet per," he said.
"Thirty feet per," answered Drake. "And may we not get burned!"
"Trusting soul," observed Hammond.
Sandra thrust the main lever home with a savage motion. Deftly she
juggled the steering levers until the ship pointed at Sol. "We're off,"
she said. "Hold your hats!"

The accelerometer climbed by the second. It hit one hundred feet per,
and then slowed in its climb, approaching one twenty in an
exponential curve. In the other room, a step-by-step switch continued
to click off the contacts, and the generators in the turbine room
whined higher and higher up the scale. Minutes passed and became
a half hour.
"We're in," said McBride, with a deep exhalation. "But how in the
name of sin can we tell what our acceleration is?"
"The Hooke type of accelerometer is useless when we neutralize the
gravity-apparent," agreed Hammond. "We're going to have some
inventing to do."
"I wonder what the limit of our acceleration is," said Jimmy. "It can't be
infinite, because the mechanogravitic generator above can take only
so much—"
The inertia switches went out with startling clicks, and the weight-
loaded rheostats whirred home to zero. Relays danced madly as the
acceleration went to zero once more.
"Right back where we started from," came the pained voice of Sandra
Drake. "Can't you birds think of something practical?"
She thrust the main control home once more, hooking it up to the
automatic circuit that Larry had installed. The acceleration began
again. "Now we'll have some more jackrabbit drive—but with a longer
jump," said Drake cynically.
"We'll have to limp all the way to the Lens on this drive," said
McBride. "It isn't too good, but I can't see—"
"I'm tired of this jerky stuff," said Sandra Drake entering the room. "It
seems to me that you should be able to duplicate the mess you have
here by something similar up in the nose."
"Yes?" asked Steve Hammond politely. He was interested but not
impressed.
"What I'm trying to say is this: Wouldn't a set-up similar to this space-
eating drive also be capable of exerting mechanical attraction,
thereby getting you a constantly increasing neutralizing force?"
Steve thought that one over. "Not bad. Not bad at all!"
Jimmy jumped to his feet. "It'll work, Steve. We'll have to induce the
mechanogravitic force in a cupralum bar by secondary gravitic
radiation, but it is a known phenomenon. Drakey, that's top!"
"Except for one thing," said Larry. "We're fresh out of magnetogravitic
generators. Aside from that, we can run this heap all the way to
Sirius."
Pete said: "Yeah, and if we did have one, we'd still be short a few
thousand alphons. The alphatron won't carry another generator, nor
will the little one upstairs." He grinned at Sandra. "We're not tossing
cold water on your suggestion. It'll work—but not right now."
"Then it was good?" asked Drake with the first question of honest
awe she had used in years.
"Perfect," said McBride, cheerfully. "But not quite complete. We won't
censure you for that, however, since we know that you haven't been
hanging around space-warp engineers for the last ten years. You
couldn't have known that this mag-grav generator will do service on
both ends. All we have to do is to direct the output on a two-lobe
pattern instead of a single-lobe pattern, and set our induction bar up
above in the field of the mechanogravitic we've already got there.
Jimmy, change the output pattern of the mag-grav and we'll hike aloft
with the cupralum bar." He bowed at Sandra. "Thanks to that one,
we'll be moving right along!"

Pilot Drake sent the power lever home at thirty feet per, and watched
the accelerator climb to exactly thirty, where it stopped and hung.
Minutes passed, and the meter read constant.
Steve Hammond smiled wider and wider as the minutes added into a
quarter hour. "I think our cupralum hull is helping," he said.
"How?" asked Pete.
"Why, it is collecting enough leakage-warp to create a nice large warp
of its own—in which we now travel, and in which the accelerometer
reads only that factor 'R' of Mac's. That meter reads the rate of
change of acceleration. Drake, step it up to sixty."
Sandra advanced the drive, and the meter went up to sixty even.
"We're on the ball," said Hammond.
"We sure are," said McBride, passing a forefinger over his cheek. "It's
hot in here."
"I know. And you can call the Lens and tell the Doc we're on our way."
"I tried that. The lines were busy, so I shot 'em a 'gram. They know
now that we're coming."
"I wonder if your math is correct," said Steve.
"Why?"
"If it is," explained Steve, "we'll be halfway to the Lens in three hours
from start—no, wait a minute. We're running at sixty feet now. That
means a little better than two hours! But if they are correct, we'll be
hitting almost two times the speed of light. That is not possible."
"I think we'll do it," said McBride. "After all, we're in a space warp, and
no one really knows whether the laws of the universe hold in a space
warp. Drake hit the Lens at about ten thousand miles per second,
was stopped in time to get to one of the fore lens stations, which must
have been terrific deceleration—unthinkably high—and it didn't even
muss her hair. We'll know in a bit when we are supposed to hit the
speed of light."
"Then for the love of Mike, what is our limiting velocity?"
"The same as any of the gravitic spectra. Gravitic phenomena
propagates at the speed of light raised to the power of 2.71828—
That's our limiting velocity."
"Want to make any bets?"
"I don't mind. My guess is as good as yours."
"Better," admitted Steve.

Below, in the pilot room, Sandra Drake was having a state of nerves.
She was alone in the driver's seat of a ship destined to exceed the
speed of light, and she was scared. For some reason, the men who
professed to shy at danger were arguing the possibilities of running
above the speed of light while she, who had lived the life of an
adventuresome girl, a daredevil, was worrying. She listened through
the communicator at their argument and cursed under her breath.
They were going at it in a pedantic manner, hurling equations and
theorems and postulates at one another like lawyers with a case for
the supreme court, not men who were heading for God-Knows-What
at a headlong pace under an ever-increasing acceleration.
There were all sorts of arguments as to the aspect of the sky as the
speed of light was approached. And how it would look at a velocity of
more than light. This went on for some time, with Steve Hammond
holding out for blackout and John McBride holding for a sky that
crawled forward due to the angle-vectors created by the ship's
passage across the light rays, until the entire sky appeared before
them—all the stars in the sky would be in the hemisphere in front of
them, no constellation recognizable.
"But your supposition does not recognize the doppler effect," objected
Hammond. "Visible light will be out of the visible spectrum."
"True enough. But solar radiation extends from down low in the
electromagnetic scale to very very high in the extra-hard UV. Visible
spectra will be dopplered into the UV, all right, but the radio waves will
have an apparent frequency of light, and we shall see the stars by
that, I think."
"With no change in color?" asked Hammond skeptically.
"There will be a change in color, naturally. We'll observe them in
accordance with whatever long waves they emit; they will in no way
resemble the familiar stars we know."
"How's a poor devil going to navigate at any rate?" asked Larry. "With
everything out of place—or invisible—what's he going to use for
signposts?"
"In normal usage, the super drive will be fine. We've been using
autopilots for years and years, setting up the whole course from take-
off to the last half hour of landing. We can still do it. We'll be flying
blind, but so what? We fly pretty blind as it is; no one gives a rap
about the sky outside. Instrument flying is our best bet."
"Well," said Hammond, "we'll see it soon enough. The color of the
stars behind us are changing right now."
"They should. We're running at three quarters of light—and, Stevey
Boy, they're still visible!"
Silently they watched the sky. Dead below them, a tiny black circle
appeared and the stars that once occupied this circle were flowing
away from it radially. It expanded, and the region of flow spread
circularly, and the bowl of the sky moved like a fluid thing towards the
top of the ship until the stars at their nose were crowding together.
Stars appeared there, new stars caused by the crossing of
electromagnetic waves from the rear, and the sky took on an alien
sight.
For a long time the stars seemed to tighten in their positions above
the ship, and then the warning bell rang and the ship swapped ends
easily and the bowl of the sky was below them.
Then it began to return to the fore observation point of the Haywire
Queen as the velocity of the ship dropped. The crawl started, and the
black circle diminished until it was gone. The stars continued to
regain their familiar color as the Haywire Queen approached the
normal velocities used by mankind.

Five hours after their start, the Haywire Queen slid clumsily to a stop
beside Station 1 and made a landing. She arced a bit, since the
charge-generating equipment did not have the refinements of the
Lens flitters for making the ship assume the charge of the destined
station. But the arc was not too bad, and within a minute after the
Haywire Queen touched the landing deck, John McBride was
knocking on the door of Dr. Caldwell's office in the hospital.
Caldwell came out of the inner door to answer the summons, and he
looked up at McBride and went dead-white.
"Mac! It's you?"
"Naturally," smiled McBride. "How's Enid?"
"How did you get here?" demanded Doc.
"That's a long yarn, Doc, and it includes a whole engineering
program, exceeding the velocity of light, and using a space warp as a
traveling companion. How's Enid?"
"She was none too good, but we'll have her through now. Come on
in!"
"First tell Tommy that the Haywire Queen is on the landing deck and
that they're to have anything they need if we have to kill the lens to
give it to them!"
"I heard that, John," said Tommy, coming in the door. "It's done." He
turned on his heel and left immediately.
John approached the bedside. "Enid," he said softly.
Enid's eyes fluttered. A wave of pain passed across her face and she
tried to move. McBride looked at the doctor.
"Go ahead, John," said Doc.
"Enid. I'm here. It's John."
Enid opened her mouth, gasped once, and said in a very weak voice:
"John? Here?"
"Nowhere else."
"But you ... were on ... Pluto—?"
McBride thought that one over. How could he explain? He decided
not to, and said: "I've been coming back for a long time, Enid. I'm
here now—that's all that counts."
"Yes, John," said Enid.
"She'll be all right now," said Caldwell. "That's what she needed."
Another wave of pain crossed Enid's face, and a nurse came with a
filled hypo.
Caldwell drew McBride out. "Another half hour will see her through,"
he told John. "You wait here and everything will be all right. I know
that now, thank God."
Caldwell left McBride to re-enter Enid's room.
Steve Hammond and Sandra Drake entered the office. "How is she?"
asked Hammond.
"Doc says she's going to be all right, now. I've seen her and Doc says
she's perking up already."
"Good!" said Steve. "Drake, that was a nice piece of navigating. You
hit Station 1 right on the nose."
Sandra felt a whole library of emotions, mixed together. She smiled a
sickly smile and said: "I should have. I've been here before,
remember?"
Hammond ignored the statement because he thought it sounded too
much like bluster. "Drake," he said, "the Haywire Queen is about
ready to hop for Terra. Do you feel up to running it in?"
"Steve," snapped Sandra Drake, "I'm not going to let any idiot male
handle the Haywire Queen, and don't you forget it! After all, I'm the
only pilot in the solar system that knows how to run her! I'll personally
strangle both you and whomever you think you're going to get for that
job, understand?"
Sandra turned and left.
"What in the name of the seven hells has got that dame?" asked
McBride.
"There are a lot of ways to kill a cat besides choking it to death with
cream," said Hammond thoughtfully, "but the latter way is just as
effective and sometimes a lot easier. Our she-barracuda has just hit
the one thing that she can't fight."
"Huh?"
"Sure. We gave her credit for doing a good job. Willing, honest credit.
No matter how she may profess to despise our opinion, she can't yell
'Liar' at us because that would mean that she thought that the praise
meant nothing. She's got to agree with us, or deny that she did
anything worthy. And she's been living in a world of her own, trying to
prove that she is the stuff. So—get me?"
"Uh-huh, I suppose so. How're you set?"
"Pretty good. We've swiped all of your spare alphatrons and a couple
more gravitic generators, and we'll butter the job up a little so that we
won't worry about over-loading the alphatrons. That'll take us an hour
or so. How're you doing?"
"I dunno. Doc said wait here—and dammit, I'm running out of
fingernails, cigarettes, and patience."
"Well hang tight. I'll be back from time to time to see how you're
getting along—Hi, Doc? What's the good word?"
"It's good," sighed Dr. Caldwell.
"Honest?" yelled McBride. "Enid's O.K.?"
"Fine. From here on in it's a breeze. Oh, I forgot to tell you. She's had
her son."
"She's what?" yelled McBride.
"Son. John McBride Junior, I presume. He's an ugly, carrot-colored,
monkey-faced, repulsively wrinkled little monster, but Enid says he's
the image of the old man."
McBride looked at Caldwell, and then rushed out to Enid's room.
"Image of the old man, hey?" asked Hammond.
"He'll develop," said Dr. Caldwell. "Junior is a Latent Image!"
THE END.
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