Flexible multi-turn multi-gap coaxial RF coils: design concept and implementation for Magnetic Resonance Imaging at 3 and 7 Tesla - Inria - Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging Année : 2021

Flexible multi-turn multi-gap coaxial RF coils: design concept and implementation for Magnetic Resonance Imaging at 3 and 7 Tesla

Résumé

Magnetic resonance has become a backbone of medical imaging but suffers from inherently low sensitivity. This can be alleviated by improved radio frequency (RF) coils. Multi-turn multi-gap coaxial coils (MTMG-CCs) introduced in this work are flexible, form-fitting RF coils extending the concept of the single-turn single-gap CC by introducing multiple cable turns and/or gaps. It is demonstrated that this enables free choice of the coil diameter, and thus, optimizing it for the application to a certain anatomical site, while operating at the self-resonance frequency. An equivalent circuit for MTMG-CCs is modeled to predict their resonance frequency. Possible configurations regarding size, number of turns and gaps, and cable types for different B 0 field strengths are calculated. Standard copper wire loop coils (SCs) and flexible CCs made from commercial coaxial cable were fabricated as receive-only coils for 3 T and transmit/receive coils at 7 T with diameters between 4 and 15 cm. Electromagnetic simulations are used to investigate the currents on MTMG-CCs, and demonstrate comparable specific absorption rate of 7 T CCs and SCs. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), transmit efficiency, and active detuning performance of CCs were compared in bench tests and MR experiments. For the form-fitted receive-only CCs at 3 T no significant SNR degradation was found as compared to flat SCs on a balloon phantom. Form-fitted transmit/receive CCs at 7 T showed higher transmit efficiency and SNR. MTMG-CCs can be sized to optimize sensitivity, are flexible and lightweight, and could therefore enable the fabrication of wearable coils with improved patient comfort.

Dates et versions

hal-03234763 , version 1 (25-05-2021)

Identifiants

Citer

Lena Nohava, Raphaela Czerny, Sigrun Roat, Michael Obermann, Andre Kuehne, et al.. Flexible multi-turn multi-gap coaxial RF coils: design concept and implementation for Magnetic Resonance Imaging at 3 and 7 Tesla. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 2021, 40 (4), pp.1267-1278. ⟨10.1109/TMI.2021.3051390⟩. ⟨hal-03234763⟩
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