Premium
Noise performance of surface coils for magnetic resonance imaging at 1.5 T
Author(s) -
Hayes Cecil E.,
Axel Leon
Publication year - 1985
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 - 10.1118/1.595682
Subject(s) - electromagnetic coil , magnetic resonance imaging , signal to noise ratio (imaging) , materials science , noise (video) , nuclear magnetic resonance , surface (topology) , acoustics , optics , physics , image (mathematics) , computer science , medicine , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , radiology
In this paper we analyze the signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) for surface coil magnetic resonance imaging at 1.5 T. We have applied the treatment of Hoult and Lauterbur to determine the factors that most affect coil performance. We have imaged lossy phantoms with 8‐, 10‐, and 14‐cm‐diam circular surface coils and compared the results to body and head coil images. Surface coils can improve SNR by a factor of 4 or more for regions close to the surface. Surface coils are effective for regions up to 6 cm deep in the head and about 12 cm deep in the body. Nonuniformity of image intensity is a necessary requirement for improved SNR in surface coils. Coil losses make only a small contribution to image noise compared to tissue losses at 1.5 T. Surface coils need not be placed in close contact with the patient at 1.5 T.