7T human spine imaging arrays with adjustable inductive decoupling

IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2010 Feb;57(2):397-403. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2009.2030170. Epub 2009 Aug 25.

Abstract

Ultrahigh-field human spine RF transceiver coil arrays face daunting technical challenges in achieving large imaging coverage with sufficient B(1) penetration and sensitivity, and in attaining robust decoupling among coil elements. In this paper, human spine coil arrays for ultrahigh field were built and studied. Transceiver arrays with loop-shaped microstrip transmission line were designed, fabricated, and tested for 7-tesla (7T) MRI. With the proposed adjustable inductive decoupling technique, the isolation between adjacent coil elements is easily addressed. Preliminary results of human spine images acquired using the transceiver arrays demonstrate the feasibility of the design for ultrahigh-field MR applications and its robust performance for parallel imaging.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Equipment Design
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / instrumentation*
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods
  • Spine / anatomy & histology*