Abstract
On high field MRI scanners uniform radio frequency (RF) excitation over the entire field-of-view is often challenging with single-channel RF transmit coils. This may cause a reduction of image quality (e.g. shadowing artifacts). This problem is most pronounced in sequences which heavily rely on a homogenous magnetic field, such as steady state free precession (SSFP) sequences, despite having been shown to yield best results for MR coronary angiography at 1.5T. Multi-channel RF transmission (Tx) has been shown to significantly improve the RF (B1 field) uniformity in high-field MRI. More accurate knowledge of the local B1 field also allows to better predicting the local specific absorption rate (SAR), thereby allowing for shorter repetition times (TR). Altogether, this may allow for the use of SSFP sequences at 3T and thus to combine the high CNR benefits of 3D SSFP with the high SNR advantages of 3T for whole heart coronary MR angiography (WHCMRA).
Highlights
On high field MRI scanners uniform radio frequency (RF) excitation over the entire field-of-view is often challenging with single-channel RF transmit coils
This problem is most pronounced in sequences which heavily rely on a homogenous magnetic field, such as steady state free precession (SSFP) sequences, despite having been shown to yield best results for MR coronary angiography at 1.5T
The purpose of this study was to evaluate if the use of a multi-channel RF transmit coil can improve image quality of whole heart coronary MR angiography (WHCMRA) at 3.0T compared to a conventional single-channel RF transmit coil
Summary
On high field MRI scanners uniform radio frequency (RF) excitation over the entire field-of-view is often challenging with single-channel RF transmit coils This may cause a reduction of image quality (e.g. shadowing artifacts). More accurate knowledge of the local B1 field allows to better predicting the local specific absorption rate (SAR), thereby allowing for shorter repetition times (TR). This may allow for the use of SSFP sequences at 3T and to combine the high CNR benefits of 3D SSFP with the high SNR advantages of 3T for whole heart coronary MR angiography (WHCMRA)
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