A Test Strategy for a Current Source Designed for Fast Field-Cycling Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Authors

  • Delfina Vélez Ibarra FAMAF, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6768-5313
  • Gonzalo Vodanovic Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba and the Facultad Regional Villa María, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Córdoba, Argentina https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9650-5446
  • Agustín Laprovitta Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba and the Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola, CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1683-9655
  • Gabriela Peretti Facultad de Matematica, Astronomía, Física y Computación, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba and the Facultad Regional Villa María, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Córdoba, Argentina https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1489-7982
  • Eduardo Romero Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba and the Facultad Regional Villa María, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Córdoba, Argentina https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8378-950X
  • Esteban Anoardo Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba and the Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola, CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6667-4305

Keywords:

Analog test, Current source, Design for test, Oscillation-based test, Scientific instrumentation

Abstract

This article presents a novel structural test strategy for a single MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor) source designed for Fast Field-Cycling Nuclear Mag-netic Resonance (FFC-NMR) systems. The proposed methodolo-gy enables in-field fault detection during idle intervals or before experiment initiation, a critical step to ensure the reliability and validity of the experimental outcomes. The circuit under test is divided into two sections: low-power and high-power. Each one is evaluated using tailored analog testing techniques: OBT (Oscilla-tion-Based Test) and direct current testing are applied to the low-power section, while transient analysis with DTW (Dynamic Time Warping) is used for fault detection in the high-power section. This approach achieves high fault coverage—93.7% for the low-power section and 100% for the high-power section—without requiring complex signal processing. The effectiveness of the method is validated through simulation studies complement-ed by experimental fault injection on a scaled-down prototype. The results demonstrate that this test strategy significantly en-hances system reliability, offering a valuable contribution to the development of more robust and maintainable FFC-NMR in-strumentation for scientific and industrial applications.

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Author Biographies

Delfina Vélez Ibarra, FAMAF, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

Delfina Velez is a PhD student in Engineering sciences from the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Argentina. Assistant Professor at Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, and at Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Católica de Córdoba, Argentina.

Gonzalo Vodanovic, Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba and the Facultad Regional Villa María, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Córdoba, Argentina

Gonzalo Vodanovic received his degree in Electronic Engineering from the Universidad Católica de Córdoba in 2015. He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Engineering Sciences at the Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Facultad Regional Córdoba. He is a Professor at the Facultad Regional Villa María, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, and at the Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina. His main research interests include testing and fault diagnosis in analog circuits using machine learning techniques, reconfigurable digital and analog platforms, and instrumentation systems.

Agustín Laprovitta, Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba and the Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola, CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina

Agustín Laprovitta received his Doctoral degree in 2014 and the Electrical Engineering degree in 2004, both from Universidad Católica de Córdoba, Argentina. He is currently an Assistant Professor with the Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. His research interests include low-power test strategies, analog and mixed-signal circuits built-in self-test/diagnosis, and embedded system design.

Gabriela Peretti , Facultad de Matematica, Astronomía, Física y Computación, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba and the Facultad Regional Villa María, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Córdoba, Argentina

Gabriela Peretti received the degree in Electronic Engineering and Doctor in Engineering from Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Argentina, in 1998 and 2006, respectively. She is a Professor at Facultad Regional Villa María, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, and at Facultad de Matemática. Astronomía y Fïsica, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina. Her main research interests are digital and mixed-signal test and design for testability.

Eduardo Romero , Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba and the Facultad Regional Villa María, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Córdoba, Argentina

Eduardo Romero received the degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering from Universidad Católica de Córdoba in 1987 and the degree of Doctor in Engineering from Universidad Tecnológica Nacional in 2005. He is a Professor at Facultad Regional Villa María, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, and at Facultad de Matemática. Astronomía y Fïsica, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina. His main research interests are analog and mixed-signal test and design for testability.

Esteban Anoardo, Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba and the Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola, CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina

Esteban Anoardo (Senior Member, IEEE) was born in Cordoba, Province of Cordoba, Argentina, in 1964. He received his Licenciatura and Ph.D. degrees in Physics from the Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación (FaMAF), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, in 1990 and 1996, respectively. Following a postdoctoral position at FaMAF from 1997 to 1998, he joined Stelar srl in Mede, Italy, as R&D Coordinator, contributing to the development of the FFC-2000 fast field-cycling NMR relaxometer between 1999 and 2000. He subsequently held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Ulm, Germany, supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2000–2001). Since 2002, he has been a Professor of Physics with the NMR Group at FaMAF and a Researcher at CONICET. In 2005, he established the Laboratorio de Relaxometría y Técnicas Especiales (LaRTE) at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, focusing primarily on the development of NMR instrumentation and related measurement techniques. His research interests include field-cycling NMR and MRI, with applications in molecular physics and metrology. He has authored scientific articles and book chapters in these areas.

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Published

2025-11-01

How to Cite

Vélez Ibarra, D., Vodanovic, G., Laprovitta, A. ., Peretti , G. ., Romero , E. ., & Anoardo, E. (2025). A Test Strategy for a Current Source Designed for Fast Field-Cycling Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. IEEE Latin America Transactions, 23(12), 1335–1345. Retrieved from https://latamt.ieeer9.org/index.php/transactions/article/view/9952

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 12 (2025): Ordinary Issue

Section

Electronics