Local head gradient coils: window(s) of opportunity.

At the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), prior to the 1991 announcement of the discovery of BOLD fMRI, all of the technical pieces that were needed for efficient BOLD fMRI imaging were assembled for other applications, allowing MCW to jump into the fMRI business just days after the announcement. Central among these pieces was single shot EPI, implemented at MCW using a three axis local head gradient coil. This article describes the development of local gradient coil technology at MCW, and a historical perspective on local head gradient coils in general.