Performance of Large-Size Superconducting Coil in 0.21T MRI System

Bringing MRI to low- and middle-income countries: Directions, challenges and potential solutions

The global disparity of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a major challenge, with many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) experiencing limited access to MRI. The reasons for limited access are technological, economic and social. With the advancement of MRI technology, we explore why these challenges still prevail, highlighting the importance of MRI as the epidemiology of disease changes in LMICs. In this paper, we establish a framework to develop MRI with these challenges in mind and discuss the different aspects of MRI development, including maximising image quality using cost-effective components, integrating local technology and infrastructure and implementing sustainable practices. We also highlight the current solutions-including teleradiology, artificial intelligence and doctor and patient education strategies-and how these might be further improved to achieve greater access to MRI.

A cryogenic 14-channel 13 C receiver array for 3T human head imaging

PURPOSE

This article presents a novel 14-channel receive-only array for ¹³ C human head imaging at 3 T that explores the SNR gain by operating at cryogenic temperature cooled by liquid nitrogen.

METHODS

Cryostats are developed to evaluate single-coil bench SNR performance and cool the 14-channel array with liquid nitrogen while having enough thermal insulation between the coils and the sample. The temperature distribution for the coil array is measured. Circuits are adapted to the -189°C environment and implemented in the 14-channel array. ¹³ C images are acquired with the array at cryogenic and room temperature in a 3T scanner.

RESULTS

Compared with room temperature, the array at cryogenic temperature provides 27%-168% SNR improvement over all voxels and 47% SNR improvement near the image center. The measurements show a decrease of the element noise correlation at cryogenic temperature.

CONCLUSION

It is demonstrated that higher SNR can be achieved by cryogenically cooling the 14-channel array. A cryogenic array suitable for clinical imaging can be further developed on the array proposed. The cryogenic coil array is most likely suited for scenarios in which high SNR deep in a head and decent SNR on the periphery are required.

Comparisons between the 35 mm quadrature surface resonator at 300 K and the 40 mm high-temperature superconducting surface resonator at 77 K in a 3T MRI imager

This study attempts to compare the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the 40 mm High-Temperature Superconducting (HTS) surface resonator at 77 K and the 35 mm commercial quadrature (QD) surface resonator at 300 K in a 3 Tesla (T) MRI imager. To aquire images for the comparison, we implemented a phantom experiment using the 40 mm diameter Bi₂Sr₂Ca₂Cu₃O_x (Bi-2223) HTS surface resonator, the 35 mm commercial QD surface resonator and the 40 mm professionally-made copper surface resonator. The HTS surface resonator at 77 K provided a 1.43-fold SNR gain over the QD surface resonator at 300 K and provided a 3.84-fold SNR gain over the professionally-made copper surface resonator at 300 K on phantom images. The results agree with the predictions, and the difference between the predicted SNR gains and measured SNR gains is 1%. Although the geometry of the HTS surface resonator is different from the QD surface resonator, its SNR is still higher. The results demonstrate that a higher image quality can be obtained with the HTS surface resonator at 77 K. With the HTS surface resonator, the SNR can be improved, suggesting that the HTS surface resonator is a potentially helpful diagnostic tool for MRI imaging in various applications.

Stacked phased array coils for increasing the signal-to-noise ratio in magnetic resonance imaging

A new concept of using a stacked phased coil array to increase the signal-to-circuit noise ratio (SCNR) in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is introduced. Unlike conventional phased coil arrays, the proposed stacked phased coil array is constructed by stacking the coil elements closely together in the vertical direction. Through a proper combination of the coil terminal voltages, the SCNR is shown to increase with the square root of the number of coil elements. A prototype two-element array is constructed and an experimental method is designed to determine the combiner coefficients in a simulated MRI electromagnetic field environment. The experimental results show that the mutual coupling effect among the array coils can be totally removed and the combiner output voltage increases with the number of coil elements. This demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed method.

Increasing the signal-to-noise ratio by using vertically stacked phased array coils for low-field magnetic resonance imaging

A new method is introduced to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in low-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems by using a vertically stacked phased coil array. It is shown theoretically that the SNR is increased with the square root of the number of coils in the array if the array signals are properly combined to remove the mutual coupling effect. Based on this, a number of vertically stacked phased coil arrays have been designed and characterized by a numerical simulation method. The performance of these arrays confirms the significant increase of SNR by increasing the number of coils in the arrays. This provides a simple and efficient method to improve the SNR for low-field MRI systems.

Whole body screening using high-temperature superconducting MR volume resonators: mice studies

High temperature superconducting (HTS) surface resonators have been used as a low loss RF receiver resonator for improving magnetic resonance imaging image quality. However, the application of HTS surface resonators is significantly limited by their filling factor. To maximize the filling factor, it is desirable to have the RF resonator wrapped around the sample so that more nuclear magnetic dipoles can contribute to the signal. In this study, a whole new Bi(2)Sr(2)Ca(2)Cu(2)O(3) (Bi-2223) superconducting saddle resonator (width of 5 cm and length of 8 cm) was designed for the magnetic resonance image of a mouse's whole body in Bruker 3 T MRI system. The experiment was conducted with a professionally-made copper saddle resonator and a Bi-2223 saddle resonator to show the difference. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) with the HTS saddle resonator at 77 K was 2.1 and 2 folds higher than that of the copper saddle resonator at 300 K for a phantom and an in-vivo mice whole body imaging. Testing results were in accordance with predicted ones, and the difference between the predicted SNR gains and measured SNR gains were 2.4%∼2.7%. In summary, with this HTS saddle system, a mouse's whole body can be imaged in one scan and could reach a high SNR due to a 2 folds SNR gain over the professionally-made prototype of copper saddle resonator at 300 K. The use of HTS saddle resonator not only improves SNR but also enables a mouse's whole body screen in one scan.

Micro MRI of the mouse brain using a novel 400 MHz cryogenic quadrature RF probe

The increasing number of mouse models of human disease used in biomedical research applications has led to an enhanced interest in non-invasive imaging of mice, e.g. using MRI for phenotyping. However, MRI of small rodents puts high demands on the sensitivity of data acquisition. This requirement can be addressed by using cryogenic radio-frequency (RF) detection devices. The aim of this work was to investigate the in vivo performance of a 400 MHz cryogenic transmit/receive RF probe (CryoProbe) designed for MRI of the mouse brain. To characterize this novel probe, MR data sets were acquired with both the CryoProbe and a matched conventional receive-only surface coil operating at room temperature (RT) using conventional acquisition protocols (gradient and spin echo) with identical parameter settings. Quantitative comparisons in phantom and in vivo experiments revealed gains in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 2.4 and 2.5, respectively. The increased sensitivity of the CryoProbe was invested to enhance the image quality of high resolution structural images acquired in scan times compatible with routine operation (< 45 min). In high resolution (30 x 30 x 300 microm(3)) structural images of the mouse cerebellum, anatomical details such as Purkinje cell and molecular layers could be identified. Similarly, isotropic (60 x 60 x 60 microm(3)) imaging of mouse cortical and subcortical areas revealed anatomical structures smaller than 100 microm. Finally, 3D MR angiography (52 x 80 x 80 microm(3)) of the brain vasculature enabled the detailed reconstruction of intracranial vessels (anterior and middle cerebral artery). In conclusion, this low temperature detection device represents an attractive option to increase the performance of small animal MR systems operating at 9.4 Tesla.