Dedicated receiver array coil for 1 H lung imaging with same‐breath acquisition of hyperpolarized 3 He and 129 Xe gas

Purpose Same‐breath acquisition of 1 H and hyperpolarized gases ( 3 He and 129 Xe) in the lungs provides complementary information on pulmonary structure and function with inherent spatial‐temporal registration of the images from the different nuclei. To date 1 H images have been acquired using the MR system's body coil, which has low SNR when compared with dedicated receiver‐array coils. This study demonstrates the design and application of a dedicated 1 H receiver array to improve the 1 H lung SNR for use in same‐breath acquisition with hyperpolarized gas 3 He or 129 Xe at 1.5 Tesla. Theory and Methods A four‐loop dedicated receiver‐array was developed in‐house for 1 H lung MRI to work in compatibility with existing 3 He/ 129 Xe transmit–receive coils. As part of the design process, a new generalized circuit formalism was developed for trap circuits for such a dedicated 1 H receiver array at 63.8 MHz with traps for 3 He 48.6 MHz and 129 Xe 17.7 MHz. Results The 1 H lung image SNR from the novel 1 H array was twice that observed with the 1 H body coil when used in same‐breath acquisition with the 3 He or 129 Xe T–R coil in situ. Conclusion An array coil to improve 1 H SNR of the lung in same‐breath acquisition with hyperpolarized gases has been demonstrated. Magn Reson Med 74:291–299, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.