Abstract
Purpose
Imaging the carotid arteries at 7T ideally requires a flexible multichannel array that allows B1‐shimming and conforms to different neck sizes. The major challenge is to minimize coupling between closely spaced coils and to make the coupling relatively insensitive to loading conditions.
Methods
We have designed a five‐channel flexible transceive array composed of shielded‐coaxial‐cable coils placed on the anterior part of the neck and conforming to the anatomy. In vivo imaging of the carotid arteries in three subjects has been performed.
Results
The measured noise correlation matrices show the decoupling level between the individual elements to be −12.5 dB and better. Anatomical localizer imaging of the carotids shows both carotids in every subject well visualized after B1‐shimming. In vivo black‐blood, carotid images were acquired with very high in‐plane spatial resolution (0.25 × 0.25 mm2) with clear depiction of the vessel walls.
Conclusions
The flexibility of the proposed coil has been demonstrated by imaging subjects with different neck circumferences. To the best of our knowledge, the in‐plane resolution of 0.25 × 0.25 mm2 is the highest reported at 7T.
Imaging the carotid arteries at 7T ideally requires a flexible multichannel array that allows B1‐shimming and conforms to different neck sizes. The major challenge is to minimize coupling between closely spaced coils and to make the coupling relatively insensitive to loading conditions.
Methods
We have designed a five‐channel flexible transceive array composed of shielded‐coaxial‐cable coils placed on the anterior part of the neck and conforming to the anatomy. In vivo imaging of the carotid arteries in three subjects has been performed.
Results
The measured noise correlation matrices show the decoupling level between the individual elements to be −12.5 dB and better. Anatomical localizer imaging of the carotids shows both carotids in every subject well visualized after B1‐shimming. In vivo black‐blood, carotid images were acquired with very high in‐plane spatial resolution (0.25 × 0.25 mm2) with clear depiction of the vessel walls.
Conclusions
The flexibility of the proposed coil has been demonstrated by imaging subjects with different neck circumferences. To the best of our knowledge, the in‐plane resolution of 0.25 × 0.25 mm2 is the highest reported at 7T.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1672-1677 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Magnetic Resonance in Medicine |
| Volume | 84 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 12 Feb 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2020 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
This research was funded in part by the statutory research fund of the Jerzy Haber Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences. The work was supported by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development [Grant PBS2/A9/24/2013], the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange [Grant PPN/PPO/2018/1/00004/U/00001] and the Getty Conservation Institute’s Managing Collection Environments Initiative. Acknowledgements This work was funded by ERC NOMA-MRI 670629.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| European Union's Horizon 2020 - Research and Innovation Framework Programme | 670629 |
Keywords
- 7T MRI
- carotid imaging
- neck coil
- ultra-high field
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