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Hyperpolarized C 13 MRS surface coil: Design and signal‐to‐noise ratio estimation
Author(s) -
Giovannetti Giulio,
Frijia Francesca,
Menichetti Luca,
Milanesi Matteo,
ArdenkjaerLarsen Jan Henrik,
De Marchi Daniele,
Hartwig Valentina,
Positano Vincenzo,
Landini Luigi,
Lombardi Massimo,
Santarelli Maria Filomena
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 2473-4209
pISSN - 0094-2405
DOI - 10.1118/1.3491437
Subject(s) - electromagnetic coil , imaging phantom , signal to noise ratio (imaging) , nuclear magnetic resonance , noise (video) , computer science , data acquisition , radiofrequency coil , electronic engineering , acoustics , materials science , physics , engineering , optics , electrical engineering , artificial intelligence , telecommunications , image (mathematics) , operating system
Purpose: Hyperpolarized carbon‐13 magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a novel and powerful tool for exploring the metabolic state of tissue, but a number of technological problems still limit this technology and need innovative solutions. In particular, the low molar concentration of derivate metabolites give rise to low signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR), which makes the design and development of dedicated RF coils a task of fundamental importance. In this article, the authors describe the simulation and the design of a dedicated C13surface coil for cardiac metabolism assessment in pig models. Methods: A SNR model for a circular loop is presented and applied to the design of a C13coil which guarantees the desired field‐of‐view and provides high SNR with a good penetration in deep sample regions. The coil resistance was calculated from Ohm's law and the magnetic field pattern was calculated using Biot–Savart law, while the sample induced resistance was calculated using a numerical finite‐difference time‐domain algorithm. Successively, a prototype of the coil was built and tested on the workbench and by acquisition of MR data. Results: The comparison of SNR‐vs‐depth profiles between the theoretical SNR model and the experimental SNR extracted from the phantom chemical shift image (CSI) showed the accuracy of the authors’ model. Moreover, the authors demonstrated the use of the coil for the acquisition of a CSI of a hyperpolarized [ 1 ‐ C13]pyruvate phantom. Conclusions: The results demonstrated the design trade‐offs to successfully design a dedicated coil for cardiac imaging in the pig with hyperpolarized C13by developing a SNR model which allows the prediction of the coil performance. This approach can be employed for deriving SNR formulations for coil with more complex geometries.