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Transceive surface coil array for magnetic resonance imaging of the human brain at 4 T
Author(s) -
Pinkerton Robert G.,
Barberi Enzo A.,
Me Ravi S.
Publication year - 2005
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/mrm.20583
Subject(s) - electromagnetic coil , coil noise , preamplifier , magnetic resonance imaging , wavelength , nuclear magnetic resonance , magnetic field , sensitivity (control systems) , acoustics , amplifier , radiofrequency coil , resonance (particle physics) , optics , signal to noise ratio (imaging) , signal (programming language) , materials science , physics , optoelectronics , computer science , electronic engineering , rogowski coil , engineering , medicine , radiology , quantum mechanics , programming language , cmos , particle physics
As the static magnetic field strength used in human magnetic resonance imaging increases, the wavelength of the corresponding radiofrequency field becomes comparable to the dimensions of the coil and volume of interest. The dielectric resonance effects that arise in this full wavelength regime may be partially compensated for through the use of surface coils. A novel high‐field (4 T) transceive surface coil array is presented that allows arbitrary surface coil placement and size while maintaining the ability to independently transmit and/or receive through conventional 50‐Ω power amplifiers and preamplifiers, respectively. A ninefold signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) increase is shown in close proximity to the transceive array and there is an overall 38% increase throughout the entire brain volume in comparison to the standard hybrid birdcage coil. Furthermore, the ability to independently transmit and receive through each surface coil within this array enables transmit and/or receive‐only fast parallel imaging techniques to be employed while maintaining the increased SNR sensitivity inherent to surface coil designs. Magn Reson Med 54:499–503, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.