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Interchangeable neck shape–specific coils for a clinically realizable anterior neck phased array system
Author(s) -
Beck Michael J.,
Parker Dennis L.,
Bolster Bradley D.,
Kim SeongEun,
McNally J. Scott,
Treiman Gerald S.,
Hadley J. Rock
Publication year - 2017
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.26632
Subject(s) - electromagnetic coil , head and neck , magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance , nuclear medicine , biomedical engineering , medicine , physics , radiology , surgery , quantum mechanics
Purpose To demonstrate the interchangeable neck shape–specific (NSS) coil concept that supplements standard commercial spine and head/neck coils to provide simultaneous high‐resolution (hi‐res) head/neck imaging with high signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR). Methods Two NSS coils were constructed on formers designed to fit two different neck shapes. A 7‐channel (7ch) ladder array was constructed on a medium neck former, and a 9‐channel (9ch) ladder array was constructed on large neck former. Both coils were interchangeable with the same preamp housing. Results The 7ch and 9ch coils demonstrate SNR gains of approximately 4 times and 3 times over the Siemens 20‐channel head/neck coil in the carotid arteries of our volunteers, respectively. Coupling between the Siemens 32‐channel spine coil, Siemens 20‐channel head/neck coil, and the NSS coils was negligible, allowing for simultaneous hi‐res head/neck imaging with high SNR. Conclusions This study demonstrates that supplementing existing commercial spine and head/neck coils with an NSS coil allows uniform simultaneous hi‐res imaging with high SNR in the anterior neck, while maintaining SNR of the commercial coil in the head and posterior neck. Magn Reson Med 78:2460–2468, 2017. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.