Nowadays, MRI is focused on using ultra-high static magnetic fields (> 7 T) to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. The use of high fields, on the other hand, requires novel technical solutions as well as more stringent design criteria for specific absorption rate levels, reducing radiative effect and coil resistance. In this paper, two flexible RF coils for 7 T human magnetic resonance, and 298 MHz ultra-high frequency operations were analyzed and characterized. Imaging of lower human limbs is regarded as a case study. The lumped element theory and subsequent numerical simulations were used to fine-tune the single-coil element and the dual-coil array design, respectively. Here, we demonstrate how the shape, size, configuration, and presence of the sample influence the coil performance. The penetration depth of the B 1 -field and the specific absorption rate values have been determined numerically using two numerical surface phantoms: saline and a multilayer human tissue. A preliminary study in the presence of a saline solution phantom has been carried out to develop and validate the dual-coil system. The frequency response of the dual-coil array was measured to assess its robustness when coupled to twelve human volunteers. We found that our design is robust to variations in the anatomical properties of the human thighs, and hence to coil bending. The presented approach can be useful for the implementation of flexible devices with high sensitivity levels and low specific absorption rate

Analysis of a Flexible Dual-Channel Octagonal Coil System for UHF MRI

Curreli, Nicola;Lodi, Matteo Bruno;Melis, Andrea;Casu, Sergio;Fanti, Alessandro
;
Mazzarella, Giuseppe
2022-01-01

Abstract

Nowadays, MRI is focused on using ultra-high static magnetic fields (> 7 T) to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. The use of high fields, on the other hand, requires novel technical solutions as well as more stringent design criteria for specific absorption rate levels, reducing radiative effect and coil resistance. In this paper, two flexible RF coils for 7 T human magnetic resonance, and 298 MHz ultra-high frequency operations were analyzed and characterized. Imaging of lower human limbs is regarded as a case study. The lumped element theory and subsequent numerical simulations were used to fine-tune the single-coil element and the dual-coil array design, respectively. Here, we demonstrate how the shape, size, configuration, and presence of the sample influence the coil performance. The penetration depth of the B 1 -field and the specific absorption rate values have been determined numerically using two numerical surface phantoms: saline and a multilayer human tissue. A preliminary study in the presence of a saline solution phantom has been carried out to develop and validate the dual-coil system. The frequency response of the dual-coil array was measured to assess its robustness when coupled to twelve human volunteers. We found that our design is robust to variations in the anatomical properties of the human thighs, and hence to coil bending. The presented approach can be useful for the implementation of flexible devices with high sensitivity levels and low specific absorption rate
2022
Magnetic resonance imaging
Radio frequency, Signal to noise ratio, Phantoms, Tuning, Specific absorption rate , Coils
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Analysis_of_a_Flexible_Dual-Channel_Octagonal_Coil_System_for_UHF_MRI.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: versione pre-print
Dimensione 5.69 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
5.69 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11584/344722
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 0
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 0
social impact