ABSTRACT
In this work a new concept for designing transmit coils for magnetic resonance using a plasma is introduced. Unlike conventional coils, a plasma can be turned on and off, eliminating electrical interactions between coils, and enabling radiofrequency-invisibility when desired. A surfatron has been designed to produce a surface-mode wave which propagates along the inner surface of a commercial fluorescent lighting tube. NMR spectra and images have been produced using the plasma as the transmit coil and a copper-based monopole to receive the signal. The transmit efficiency of the plasma tube was estimated, and is currently much lower than that of an equivalently-sized metal-based structure: however, there are many potential methods for increasing the efficiency using a custom-built plasma tube.
ABSTRACT
This study describes the design, construction and operation of a new type of transmit/receive array using ceramic resonators operating in a transverse electromagnetic (TE) mode. Single element function and performance at 298.1MHz (7T) are analyzed and compared to a lumped element design loop coil with comparable geometry. The results show that ceramic resonators working in the TE01δ mode configuration produce similar efficiency, defined as the transmit magnetic field (B1(+)) per square root of the specific absorption rate (SAR), to conventional surface coils. An array consisting of eight ceramic elements was then designed to operate in transmit/receive mode. This array was driven via power/phase splitters by two independent transmit channels and functional cardiac images were produced from a number of healthy volunteers.
Subject(s)
Ceramics , Image Enhancement/instrumentation , Magnetic Resonance Imaging/instrumentation , Magnetics/instrumentation , Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems/instrumentation , Transducers , Equipment Design , Equipment Failure Analysis , Magnetic Fields , Reproducibility of Results , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
The properties of a ceramic-based annular dielectric resonator designed for 7 T MRI have been examined. Electromagnetic simulations and experimentally determined modal frequencies agree to within ~1%. The dependence of the resonance frequency of the degenerate quadrature HEM11 modes on hole diameter and shield diameter was also investigated. The constructed coil, with a 2.5 cm diameter hole, had an unloaded Q value of 400, which was reduced to 150 when loaded with a human finger. Simulated and experimental B1(+) maps show a high degree of homogeneity with a sensitivity of ~11.5 µT/âW at the centre. A comparison with a loop gap resonator showed an approximately 25% higher sensitivity for the dielectric resonator. High-resolution images of the digital interphalangeal (DIP) and proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints of volunteers were acquired in imaging times of less than 2 min. Finally, novel methods of double tuning such ceramic resonators to two relatively close frequencies, e.g. proton and fluorine, have been shown.
