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In vivo MR micro imaging with conventional radiofrequency coils cooled to 77°K
Author(s) -
Wright Alexander C.,
Song Hee Kwon,
Wehrli Felix W.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
magnetic resonance in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.696
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1522-2594
pISSN - 0740-3194
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1522-2594(200002)43:2<163::aid-mrm1>3.0.co;2-k
Subject(s) - electromagnetic coil , radiofrequency coil , materials science , nuclear magnetic resonance , in vivo , biomedical engineering , liquid nitrogen , magnetic resonance imaging , signal (programming language) , optics , chemistry , physics , computer science , radiology , medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , biology , programming language
Cryogenically cooled conventional surface coils are shown to provide significant signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) gains for MR micro imaging of tissue structure in vivo. Measurements are described which employ a simple, all‐polyvinyl chloride (PVC) vacuum dewar capable of maintaining a bath of liquid nitrogen around the coil, within 5 mm of the tissue to be imaged. Images acquired in vivo at 64 MHz with a 2‐cm diameter copper coil cooled to 77 K demonstrated a gain in SNR of approximately 2.7 ± 0.3 relative to those obtained with the same coil at room temperature under otherwise identical conditions. This increase is consistent with the reduction in coil resistance and the minor contribution to overall resistance from the imaging object. The performance of the coil is illustrated with images from the human finger and rabbit eye and potential applications are discussed. Magn Reson Med 43:163–169, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.