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A 20‐channel receive‐only mouse array coil for a 3 T clinical MRI system
Author(s) -
Keil Boris,
Wiggins Graham C.,
Triantafyllou Christina,
Wald Lawrence L.,
Meise Florian M.,
Schreiber Laura M.,
Klose Klaus J.,
Heverhagen Johannes T.
Publication year - 2011
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.22791
Subject(s) - imaging phantom , electromagnetic coil , radiofrequency coil , phased array , signal to noise ratio (imaging) , preamplifier , nuclear magnetic resonance , physics , materials science , optics , acoustics , computer science , amplifier , telecommunications , optoelectronics , cmos , quantum mechanics , antenna (radio)
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. Magn Reson Med, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.