Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: A 20-channel phased-array coil for MRI of mice has been designed, constructed, and validated with bench measurements and high-resolution accelerated imaging. The technical challenges of designing a small, high density array have been overcome using individual small-diameter coil elements arranged on a cylinder in a hexagonal overlapping design with adjacent low impedance preamplifiers to further decouple the array elements. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and noise amplification in accelerated imaging were simulated and quantitatively evaluated in phantoms and in vivo mouse images. Comparison between the 20-channel mouse array and a length-matched quadrature driven small animal birdcage coil showed an SNR increase at the periphery and in the center of the phantom of 3- and 1.3-fold, respectively. Comparison with a shorter but SNR-optimized birdcage coil (aspect ratio 1:1 and only half mouse coverage) showed an SNR gain of twofold at the edge of the phantom and similar SNR in the center. G-factor measurements indicate that the coil is well suited to acquire highly accelerated images.
Source: Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
DOI: 10.1002/mrm.22791
Institutions: Harvard University, Philipps University of Marburg, Massachusetts General Hospital, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, NYU Langone Health, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard–MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Language: English
Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1991267798