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U1-16:NewResonatorsforMRI

ü Anincreaseinsignaltonoiseratioofapproximately20%ü Targetdepthof10cmat3Teslaü Improvedparallelimagingperformance

TechnologyAnovelconcepttomodelresonatorspartially inaplanewithmaximum sensitivity to the magnetic resonance signal andpartiallyinanorthogonalplane.Thus,propertiesofindividualelements in coil arrays can bemodified to optimize physicalplanarspaceandincreasethesensitivityoftheoverallarray.Aparticularcaseoftheconcept is implementedtodecreaseH-field destructive interferences in planar concentric in-phasearrays. An increase in signal to noise ratio of approximately20% was achieved with two resonators placed overapproximately the same planar area compared to commonapproaches at a target depth of 10 cm at 3 Tesla. Improvedparallel imaging performance of this configuration is alsodemonstrated. The concept can be further used to increasecoildensity.

BackgroundSignal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is a key factor in magneticresonanceimaging(MRI).SNRcanlimittheminimumscanningtimes and applications, the maximum resolution, and couldalso determine the diagnostic quality of the images. ThemaximumSNRislimitedbytheMRIsystem,themeasurementsetupandthesignalreceptionelements.Foragivensetupandsystem, increasing SNR at a region of interest (ROI) isincreasinglychallengingasthedepthoftheROIincreases.Thechallengeispresentevenininnovativeapproachessuchastheuse of metamaterials, which focus the sensitivity field butobtain maximum SNR gains from objects near the coil i.e.superficial areas of the body. Therefore, the optimization ofreception elements for MRI is necessary to maximize SNRespeciallyfordeeptissuesinthebody.Advantagesü Anincreaseinsignaltonoiseratioofapproximately20%ü Usingtheanterior-posteriordirectiontoencodethephaseü Reducecouplingbetweennext-nearestneighbours.ü Increasecoildensityü Enhancetheperformanceofthearray

DevelopmentalStageü proof-of-principleü Prototype

CommercialOpportunityü NewArrayDesignusingOrthogonalRFResonators

IntellectualPropertyPatentfiledAugust2016EP16001855,2

Fig.1)Schematicofatraditionalplanarconcen-

tricarrayincomparisontothenewarray.Thepla-nararrayformedbyasingleloop(red)andbutterycoil(blue)containanareaofdestructiveinterfer-enceofH-field(yellow)andthedimensionsofthebutteryextendfarbeyondtheareaofinterest(gray)foranoptimalperformanceatthetargetdepth.Anarrayofapartiallyorthogonalsingleloop(red)andapartiallyorthogonalbutterflycoil(blue).Theorthog-onalareaswithopposingH-fielddirections(yellowareas)wereusedasactiveshieldinginplaneorthog-onaltotheplanewithhighestsensitivitytoasample(gray).econstructiveinterference(greenareas)canbeincreasedforenhancedB1andmoreefficientuseofplanarphysicalspace.

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Contact: technologytransferheidelbergGmbHImNeuenheimerFeld672D-69120HeidelbergGermanyEmail:tt-team@med.uni-heidelberg.de

UNIVERSITÄT HEIDELBERG