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Performance evaluation of RF coils integrated with an RF‐penetrable PET insert for simultaneous PET/MRI
Author(s) -
Lee Brian J.,
Watkins Ronald D.,
Lee Keum Sil,
Chang ChenMing,
Levin Craig S.
Publication year - 2019
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.27444
Subject(s) - electromagnetic coil , radiofrequency coil , attenuation , correction for attenuation , phased array , radio frequency , materials science , imaging phantom , nuclear magnetic resonance , optics , nuclear medicine , physics , computer science , medicine , antenna (radio) , telecommunications , quantum mechanics
Purpose An “RF‐penetrable” PET insert that allows the MR body coil to be used for RF transmission was developed to make it easier for an existing MR center to achieve simultaneous PET/MRI. This study focuses on experiments and analyses to study PET/RF coil configurations for simultaneous PET/MR studies. Methods To investigate the appropriate RF coil design, a transmit/receive (TX/RX) birdcage coil and an RX‐only phased‐array coil (TX from body coil), both fitting inside the PET ring were built and characterized. For MR performance evaluation, B 1 field uniformity and MR image SNR were calculated. PET photon attenuation due to each coil was studied by means of CT‐based attenuation maps and reconstructed PET images. Results When using the RX‐only phased‐array coil (TX from body coil), compared with the TX/RX birdcage coil, the B 1 field uniformity and the MR image (gradient echo and fast spin echo) SNR increased by 2.4±4.8%, 386.1±62.3%, and 205.0±56.5%, respectively. Although some components of the coil were distributed within the PET FOV, no significant PET photon attenuation was shown in the CT‐based attenuation map and reconstructed PET images. Conclusion RF coil configurations for an RF‐penetrable PET insert for simultaneous PET/MRI were studied. The RX‐only phased‐array coil (TX from body coil) outperformed the TX/RX birdcage coil with improved MR performance as well as negligible PET photon attenuation.