Characterization of Flexible RF Microcoil Dedicated to Surface Mri

TL;DR

This paper introduces a flexible RF microcoil for surface MRI, fabricated using micromoulding on polymer substrates, achieving improved SNR and high-resolution imaging on a mouse in a small animal scanner.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel flexible RF microcoil fabrication process and demonstrates its enhanced SNR and imaging capabilities in surface MRI applications.

Findings

SNR gain up to 2 when conforming to the surface

Successful in vivo high-resolution MRI of a mouse

Effective fabrication of flexible microcoils on polymer substrates

Abstract

In Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), to achieve sufficient Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), the electrical performance of the RF coil is critical. We developed a device (microcoil) based on the original concept of monolithic resonator. This paper presents the used fabrication process based on micromoulding. The dielectric substrates are flexible thin films of polymer, which allow the microcoil to be form fitted to none-plane surface. Electrical characterizations of the RF coils are first performed and results are compared to the attempted values. Proton MRI of a saline phantom using a flexible RF coil of 15 mm in diameter is performed. When the coil is conformed to the phantom surface, a SNR gain up to 2 is achieved as compared to identical but planar RF coil. Finally, the flexible coil is used in vivo to perform MRI with high spatial resolution on a mouse using a small animal dedicated scanner operating at in a 2.35 T.