Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Gradient amplifiers are a critical subsystem in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), as their performance directly impacts image fidelity, scan time, and overall system cost. This article surveys gradient amplifier topologies and design techniques reported in the literature, with particular emphasis on the practical trade-offs between high-performance solutions and cost-driven implementations. The review covers a broad range of architectures, from stacked H-bridge configurations that can provide high slew rate with low steady-state ripple, to modified audio-amplifier-derived approaches targeting low-cost platforms. Reported experimental results are synthesized to enable a comparative discussion in terms of key figures of merit, including linearity, efficiency, current ripple, dynamic response, and power density. The paper also discusses requirements and constraints arising from emerging MRI platforms, where compactness and energy efficiency are increasingly important. Finally, persistent challenges and open research directions are outlined, highlighting the need for architectures that improve efficiency without compromising linearity under high slew-rate operation, across both high-end clinical scanners and specialized low-cost systems.
Kızılbey et al. (Tue,) studied this question.