Multi-channel RF Coil Research Articles

Nonoverlapped Decoupling Technique With Flexible and Stretchable Dielectric-Loaded Coil Elements for Wearable Multichannel RF Coils

Nonoverlapped Decoupling Technique With Flexible and Stretchable Dielectric-Loaded Coil Elements for Wearable Multichannel RF Coils

Implant-friendly MRI of deep brain stimulation electrodes at 7 T.

The purpose of this study is to present a strategy to calculate the implant-friendly (IF) excitation modes-which mitigate the RF heating at the contacts of deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes-of multichannel RF coils at 7 T. An induced RF current on an implantable electrode generates a scattered magnetic field whose left-handed circularly polarizing component ( ) is approximated using a -mapping technique and subsequently used as a gauge for the electrode's induced current. Using this approach, the relative induced currents resulting from each channel of a multichannel RF coil on the DBS electrode were calculated. The IF modes of the corresponding multichannel coil were determined by calculating the null space of the relative induced currents. The proposed strategy was tested and validated for unilateral and bilateral commercial DBS electrodes (directional lead; Infinity DBS system, Abbott Laboratories) placed inside a uniform phantom by performing heating and imaging studies on a 7T MRI scanner using a 16-channel transceive RF coil. Neither individual IF modes nor shim solutions obtained from IF modes induced significant temperature increase when used for a high-power turbo spin-echo sequence. In contrast, shimming with the scanner's toolbox (i.e., based on per-channel fields) resulted in a more than 2°C temperature increase for the same amount of input power. A strategy for calculating the IF modes of a multichannel RF coil is presented. This strategy was validated using a 16-channel RF coil at 7 T for unilateral and bilateral commercial DBS electrodes inside a uniform phantom.

Double cross magnetic wall decoupling for quadrature transceiver RF array coils using common-mode differential-mode resonators

In contrast to linearly polarized RF coil arrays, quadrature transceiver coil arrays are capable of improving signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), spatial resolution, and parallel imaging performance. Owing to a reduced excitation power, a low specific absorption rate can also be obtained using quadrature RF coils. However, due to the complex nature of their structure and their electromagnetic properties, it is challenging to achieve sufficient electromagnetic decoupling while designing multichannel quadrature RF coil arrays, particularly in ultra-high fields. In this work, we proposed a double-cross magnetic wall decoupling for quadrature transceiver RF arrays and implemented the decoupling method on common-mode differential mode quadrature (CMDM) quadrature transceiver arrays at an ultrahigh field of 7 T. The proposed magnetic decoupling wall, comprised of two intrinsically decoupled loops, is used to reduce the mutual coupling between all the multi-mode currents present in the quadrature CMDM array. The decoupling network has no physical connection with the CMDMs’ resonators, which provides less design constraint over size-adjustable RF arrays. To validate the feasibility of the proposed cross-magnetic decoupling wall, systematic studies on the decoupling performance based on the impedance of two intrinsic loops are numerically performed. A pair of quadrature transceiver CMDMs is constructed along with the proposed decoupling network, and their scattering matrix is characterized using a network analyzer. The measured results indicate that all the current modes from coupling are simultaneously suppressed using the proposed cross-magnetic wall. Moreover, field distribution and local specific absorption rate (SAR) are numerically obtained for a well-decoupled 8-channel quadrature knee-coil array.

Synthesizing Complex-Valued Multicoil MRI Data from Magnitude-Only Images.

Despite the proliferation of deep learning techniques for accelerated MRI acquisition and enhanced image reconstruction, the construction of large and diverse MRI datasets continues to pose a barrier to effective clinical translation of these technologies. One major challenge is in collecting the MRI raw data (required for image reconstruction) from clinical scanning, as only magnitude images are typically saved and used for clinical assessment and diagnosis. The image phase and multi-channel RF coil information are not retained when magnitude-only images are saved in clinical imaging archives. Additionally, preprocessing used for data in clinical imaging can lead to biased results. While several groups have begun concerted efforts to collect large amounts of MRI raw data, current databases are limited in the diversity of anatomy, pathology, annotations, and acquisition types they contain. To address this, we present a method for synthesizing realistic MR data from magnitude-only data, allowing for the use of diverse data from clinical imaging archives in advanced MRI reconstruction development. Our method uses a conditional GAN-based framework to generate synthetic phase images from input magnitude images. We then applied ESPIRiT to derive RF coil sensitivity maps from fully sampled real data to generate multi-coil data. The synthetic data generation method was evaluated by comparing image reconstruction results from training Variational Networks either with real data or synthetic data. We demonstrate that the Variational Network trained on synthetic MRI data from our method, consisting of GAN-derived synthetic phase and multi-coil information, outperformed Variational Networks trained on data with synthetic phase generated using current state-of-the-art methods. Additionally, we demonstrate that the Variational Networks trained with synthetic k-space data from our method perform comparably to image reconstruction networks trained on undersampled real k-space data.

An End-to-End Recurrent Neural Network for Radial MR Image Reconstruction.

Recent advances in deep learning have contributed greatly to the field of parallel MR imaging, where a reduced amount of k-space data are acquired to accelerate imaging time. In our previous work, we have proposed a deep learning method to reconstruct MR images directly from k-space data acquired with Cartesian trajectories. However, MRI utilizes various non-Cartesian trajectories, such as radial trajectories, with various numbers of multi-channel RF coils according to the purpose of an MRI scan. Thus, it is important for a reconstruction network to efficiently unfold aliasing artifacts due to undersampling and to combine multi-channel k-space data into single-channel data. In this work, a neural network named ‘ETER-net’ is utilized to reconstruct an MR image directly from k-space data acquired with Cartesian and non-Cartesian trajectories and multi-channel RF coils. In the proposed image reconstruction network, the domain transform network converts k-space data into a rough image, which is then refined in the following network to reconstruct a final image. We also analyze loss functions including adversarial and perceptual losses to improve the network performance. For experiments, we acquired k-space data at a 3T MRI scanner with Cartesian and radial trajectories to show the learning mechanism of the direct mapping relationship between the k-space and the corresponding image by the proposed network and to demonstrate the practical applications. According to our experiments, the proposed method showed satisfactory performance in reconstructing images from undersampled single- or multi-channel k-space data with reduced image artifacts. In conclusion, the proposed method is a deep-learning-based MR reconstruction network, which can be used as a unified solution for parallel MRI, where k-space data are acquired with various scanning trajectories.

Temporal SNR optimization through RF coil combination in fMRI: The more, the better?

For functional MRI with a multi-channel receiver RF coil, images are often reconstructed channel by channel, resulting into multiple images per time frame. The final image to analyze usually is the result of the covariance Sum-of-Squares (covSoS) combination across these channels. Although this reconstruction is quasi-optimal in SNR, it is not necessarily the case in terms of temporal SNR (tSNR) of the time series, which is yet a more relevant metric for fMRI data quality. In this work, we investigated tSNR optimality through voxel-wise RF coil combination and its effects on BOLD sensitivity. An analytical solution for an optimal RF coil combination is described, which is somewhat tied to the extended Krueger-Glover model involving both thermal and physiological noise covariance matrices. Compared experimentally to covSOS on four volunteers at 7T, the method yielded great improvement of tSNR but, surprisingly, did not result into higher BOLD sensitivity. Solutions to improve the method such as for example the t-score for the mean recently proposed are also explored, but result into similar observations once the statistics are corrected properly. Overall, the work shows that data-driven RF coil combinations based on tSNR considerations alone should be avoided unless additional and unbiased assumptions can be made.

A Pi-Shaped Compact Dual Tuned 1H/23Na Microstripline-Based Switch for 7-Tesla MRI

In this article, a compact transmitting/receiving switch is designed with concentric microstriplines on the top and bottom faces of a coupler to handle RF signals to/from 1H and 23Na RF coils working specifically at 7-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging machines. A pi-shaped equivalent circuit, from the transmission line theory, has been used with outer and inner microstriplines to compact them in size. The switch has been designed using an electromagnetic wave simulator in order to transmit/receive RF signals to/from the RF coils at the specified resonance frequencies that match with the same speeds of precession of the 1H and 23Na atomic nuclei to support imaging as well as spectroscopic features that are used to monitor the metabolism changes as a measure to the existence of tumors. The proposed pi-shaped equivalent circuit has miniaturized the size of the designed dual tuned switch by around 70% compared to classical fabricated microstripline-based switch. This work adds promising benefits to multi-tuned switches in terms of capability to be integrated with multichannel RF coils. The proposed miniaturized dual tuned switch has revealed high isolation between inner and outer couplers and excellent insertion losses during transmit and receive modes for both 1H and 23Na MRI.

Decoupling network for Tx/Rx body coil for 7T MRI

The parallel imaging technique is widely used in 7T MRI scanners. It employs multichannel RF coil arrays to apply a concurrent excitation and acquisition method. Concurrent excitation faces significant challenges in terms of electromagnetic coupling between the RF coil elements. In order to prevent interference between the RF coil elements' exciters, several decoupling methods have been developed to compensate for coupling and to permit independent work for the exciters. This paper studies the coupling between meander coils arranged in two different geometrical setups and investigates the isolation performance between the coils by applying two different decoupling networks depending on the geometrical setup of the coils. These two decoupling networks in addition to a T-shaped decoupling network have been integrated into a Tx/Rx body coil for 7 T to compensate for mutual coupling between array coil elements. The results have been obtained by using CST Microwave Studio (CST AG, Darmstadt, Germany)

Automated gradient-based electrical properties tomography in the human brain using 7 Tesla MRI

Electrical properties of the brain tissues may yield useful biomarkers for neurological disorders and diseases, as well as contribute to safety assurance of ultra-high-field MRI. It has been reported that using B1 maps from a multi-channel RF coil, the spatial variation of the electrical properties can be robustly retrieved. The absolute electrical property values can then be obtained by spatial integration, given that an integration seed point is assigned. In this study, we propose to exploit automatically detected seed points based on tissue piece-wise homogeneity (Helmholtz equation) for spatial integration. Numerical simulations of a numerical brain model and experiments involving 12 healthy volunteers were performed to demonstrate its feasibility and robustness in various noisy conditions and head positions. For in vivo imaging, we consistently observed higher conductivity and permittivity values in the white and gray matter compared to tabulated ex vivo probe measurement results found in the literature, a discrepancy that may be attributed to ex vivo experimental constraints. Our results suggest that the proposed technique produces consistent brain electrical properties in vivo that may contribute to improving diagnostic and therapeutic decisions.

A dual-tuned multichannel bilateral RF coil for 1 H/23 Na breast MRI at 7 T.

Sodium MRI has shown promise for monitoring neoadjuvant chemotherapy response in breast cancer. The purpose of this work was to build a dual-tuned bilateral proton/sodium breast coil for 7T MRI that provides sufficient SNR to enable sodium breast imaging in less than 10 minutes. The proton/sodium coil consists of 2 shielded unilateral units: 1 for each breast. Each unit consists of 3 nested layers: (1) a 3-loop solenoid for sodium excitation, (2) a 3-loop solenoid for proton excitation and signal reception, and (3) a 4-channel receive array for sodium signal reception. Benchmark measurements were performed in phantoms with and without the sodium receive array insert. In vivo images were acquired on a healthy volunteer. The sodium receive array boosted 1.5 to 3 times the SNR compared with the solenoid. Proton SNR loss due to residual interaction with the sodium array was less than 10%. The coil enabled sodium imaging in vivo with 2.8-mm isotropic nominal resolution (~5-mm real resolution) in 9:36 minutes. The coil design that we propose addresses challenges associated with sodium's low SNR from a hardware perspective and offers the opportunity to investigate noninvasively breast tumor metabolism as a function of sodium concentration in patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Feasibility of absolute quantification for 31 P MRS at 7 T.

PurposePhosphorus spectroscopy can differentiate among liver disease stages and types. To quantify absolute concentrations of phosphorus metabolites, sensitivity calibration and transmit field (B1+) correction are required. The trend toward ultrahigh fields (7 T) and the use of multichannel RF coils makes this ever more challenging. We investigated the constraints on reference phantoms, and implemented techniques for the absolute quantification of human liver phosphorus spectra acquired using a 10‐cm loop and a 16‐channel array at 7 T.MethodsThe effect of phantom conductivity was assessed at 25.8 MHz (1.5 T), 49.9 MHz (3 T), and 120.3 MHz (7 T) by electromagnetic modeling. Radiofrequency field maps (B1±) were measured in phosphate phantoms (18 mM and 40 mM) at 7 T. These maps were used to assess the correction of 4 phantom 3D‐CSI data sets using 3 techniques: phantom replacement, explicit normalization, and simplified normalization. In vivo liver spectra acquired with a 10‐cm loop were corrected with all 3 methods. Simplified normalization was applied to in vivo 16‐channel array data sets.ResultsSimulations show that quantification errors of less than 3% are achievable using a uniform electrolyte phantom with a conductivity of 0.23‐0.86 S.m−1 at 1.5 T, 0.39‐0.58 S.m−1 at 3 T, and 0.34‐0.42 S.m−1 (16‐19 mM KH2PO4(aq)) at 7 T. The mean γ‐ATP concentration quantified in vivo at 7 T was 1.39 ± 0.30 mmol.L−1 to 1.71 ± 0.35 mmol.L−1 wet tissue for the 10‐cm loop and 1.88 ± 0.25 mmol.L−1 wet tissue for the array.ConclusionIt is essential to select a calibration phantom with appropriate conductivity for quantitative phosphorus spectroscopy at 7 T. Using an 18‐mM phosphate phantom and simplified normalization, human liver phosphate metabolite concentrations were successfully quantified at 7 T.

Reconfigurable RF receiver using compact distributed switch matrix for array coils

Magnetic resonance (MR) signals captured by RF array coils should be delivered to analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) channels through an independent receiver (Rx) circuitry for precise MRI process. Since different types of RF coils should be utilised by a fixed port configuration on a patient table with a limited number of ADC channels, a highly flexible Rx front-end design is necessary. In this Letter, a compact distributed switch matrix structure for multi-channel RF coil Rx is proposed for supporting different types of array coils with small circuit size and sufficient reconfigurability. The proposed structure is configured by a multiple number of unit matrix cells consisting of a single double pole double throw and two single pole double throw RF switches to control the pathways of received MR signals. The proposed structure was implemented and verified at 9.4-Tesla (9.4 T) MR frequency (400 MHz) by comparing different RF path losses.

Multi-slice imAGe generation using intra-slice paraLLel imaging and Inter-slice shifting (MAGGULLI)

For acceleration of imaging time, multi-band imaging techniques (e.g. CAIPIRINHA) use the sensitivity differences of the multi-channel RF coils in the slice selection direction. To more effectively utilize the RF coil characteristics than the conventional multi-band imaging techniques, we propose a new imaging technique, called multi-slice image generation using intra-slice parallel imaging and inter-slice shifting (MAGGULLI). The proposed technique used an inter-slice shifting gradient in slice selection direction to make multi-slice images shift in the frequency encoding direction. Thus, aliasing caused by sub-sampling in the phase encoding direction is orthogonal to that by multi-band imaging with the inter-slice shifting, both of which are resolved by using the sensitivity information of the RF coil. Phantom and in vivo imaging experiments for the acceleration factors up to 10 demonstrate that the quality of the images reconstructed by MAGGULLI are better than that of CAIPIRINHA for high acceleration factors in the qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Sub-millimeter resolution electrical conductivity images of brain tissues using magnetic resonance-based electrical impedance tomography

Recent magnetic resonance (MR)-based electrical impedance tomography (MREIT) of in vivo animal and human subjects enabled the imaging of electromagnetic properties, such as conductivity and permittivity, on tissue structure and function with a few millimeter pixel size. At those resolutions, the conductivity contrast might be sufficient to distinguish different tissue type for certain applications. Since the precise measurement of electrical conductivity under the tissue levels can provide alternative information in a wide range of biomedical applications, it is necessary to develop high-resolution MREIT technique to enhance its availability. In this study, we provide the experimental evaluation of sub-millimeter resolution conductivity imaging method using a 3T MR scanner combined with a multi-echo MR pulse sequence, multi-channel RF coil, and phase optimization method. From the phantom and animal imaging results, sub-millimeter resolution exhibited similar signal-to-noise ratio of MR magnitude and noise levels in magnetic flux density comparing to the existing millimeter resolution. The reconstructed conductivity images at sub-millimeter resolution can distinguish different brain tissues with a pixel size as small as 350 μm.

Planar quadrature RF transceiver design using common-mode differential-mode (CMDM) transmission line method for 7T MR imaging.

The use of quadrature RF magnetic fields has been demonstrated to be an efficient method to reduce transmit power and to increase the signal-to-noise (SNR) in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The goal of this project was to develop a new method using the common-mode and differential-mode (CMDM) technique for compact, planar, distributed-element quadrature transmit/receive resonators for MR signal excitation and detection and to investigate its performance for MR imaging, particularly, at ultrahigh magnetic fields. A prototype resonator based on CMDM method implemented by using microstrip transmission line was designed and fabricated for 7T imaging. Both the common mode (CM) and the differential mode (DM) of the resonator were tuned and matched at 298MHz independently. Numerical electromagnetic simulation was performed to verify the orthogonal B1 field direction of the two modes of the CMDM resonator. Both workbench tests and MR imaging experiments were carried out to evaluate the performance. The intrinsic decoupling between the two modes of the CMDM resonator was demonstrated by the bench test, showing a better than -36 dB transmission coefficient between the two modes at resonance frequency. The MR images acquired by using each mode and the images combined in quadrature showed that the CM and DM of the proposed resonator provided similar B1 coverage and achieved SNR improvement in the entire region of interest. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed CMDM method with distributed-element transmission line technique is a feasible and efficient technique for planar quadrature RF coil design at ultrahigh fields, providing intrinsic decoupling between two quadrature channels and high frequency capability. Due to its simple and compact geometry and easy implementation of decoupling methods, the CMDM quadrature resonator can possibly be a good candidate for design blocks in multichannel RF coil arrays.

다채널 3T 자기공명장치에서의 Compressed B1 제어법

Our objective of this study was to reduce radio frequency coil (RF) control time at 3 T MRI systems. A compressed method is proposed with a convex optimization and pseudo-inverse method in multi-channel RF coils. After applying the proposed methods, fields are homogenized with less field data. Even with 80% compression, the fields are well homogenized and localized, indicating that mapping requires only 20% of the original data. Detailed values are compared between each compressed result in and outside the region of interest at 3 T.

Shimming with SAR reduction in high-field MRI

In high-field magnetic resonance imaging systems, parallel excitation with a multi-channel transmitter and receiver has been widely investigated to mitigate inhomogeneity. Multi-channel RF coils employed in the parallel imaging may alleviate the non-uniformity in the field and each element can be independently controlled by adjusting the phase and amplitude of the excitation. In this paper, convex optimization for each coil elements to homogenize and to reduce E fields is proposed. Improved homogeneity and reduced specific absorption rate over the whole field of view is achieved.

An iterative reconstruction method of complex images using expectation maximization for radial parallel MRI

In MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), signal sampling along a radial k-space trajectory is preferred in certain applications due to its distinct advantages such as robustness to motion, and the radial sampling can be beneficial for reconstruction algorithms such as parallel MRI (pMRI) due to the incoherency. For radial MRI, the image is usually reconstructed from projection data using analytic methods such as filtered back-projection or Fourier reconstruction after gridding. However, the quality of the reconstructed image from these analytic methods can be degraded when the number of acquired projection views is insufficient. In this paper, we propose a novel reconstruction method based on the expectation maximization (EM) method, where the EM algorithm is remodeled for MRI so that complex images can be reconstructed. Then, to optimize the proposed method for radial pMRI, a reconstruction method that uses coil sensitivity information of multichannel RF coils is formulated. Experiment results from synthetic and in vivo data show that the proposed method introduces better reconstructed images than the analytic methods, even from highly subsampled data, and provides monotonic convergence properties compared to the conjugate gradient based reconstruction method.

A Method to Localize RF <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">${\bm B}_{\bf 1}$</tex></formula> Field in High-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging Systems

In high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, B₀ fields of 7 and 9.4 T, the RF field shows greater inhomogeneity compared to clinical MRI systems with B₀ fields of 1.5 and 3.0 T. In multichannel RF coils, the magnitude and phase of the input to each coil element can be controlled independently to reduce the nonuniformity of the RF field. The convex optimization technique has been used to obtain the optimum excitation parameters with iterative solutions for homogeneity in a selected region of interest. The pseudoinverse method has also been used to find a solution. The simulation results for 9.4- and 7-T MRI systems are discussed in detail for the head model. Variation of the simulation results in a 9.4-T system with the number of RF coil elements for different positions of the regions of interest in a spherical phantom are also discussed. Experimental results were obtained in a phantom in the 9.4-T system and are compared to the simulation results and the specific absorption rate has been evaluated.

고자장 MRI에서의 영상 영역에 대한 B1+균질성

In high static field magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) systems, fields of 7 T and 9.4 T, the impressed RF field shows larger inhomogeneity than in clinical MRI systems with B0 fields of 1.5 T and 3.0 T. In multi-channel RF coils, the magnitude and phase of the input to each coil element can be controlled independently to reduce the non-uniformity of the impressed RF field. The convex optimization technique has been used to obtain the optimum excitation parameters with iterative solutions for homogeneity in a selected ROI(Region of Interest). To demonstrate the technique, the multichannel transmission line coil was modeled together with a human head phantom at 400 MHz for the 9.4 T MRI system and fields are obtained. In this paper, all the optimized in each isolated ROIs are combined to achieve significantly improved homogeneity over the entire field of view. The simulation results for 9.4 T MRI systems are discussed in detail.