Surface coil imaging of rat spine at 7.0 T.
An inductively coupled surface coil for imaging the rat spine at 7 T is described. This planar circular probe was made from microwave substrate to limit the size of the coil and to minimize the magnetic susceptibility. The surface coil was used as a single transmit/receive coil and as a receive-only coil with a birdcage body coil for excitation. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the probe was compared to a 5-cm birdcage coil and exceeded the birdcage coil's SNR by three to six times at superficial structures. The main advantages of the probe are an improved SNR for superficial structures and a simple design and use. Images with 50 x 50 x 500 micron voxels were obtained of the rat spine with excellent anatomical detail.
Banson
M L
ML
Center for In Vivo Microscopy, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.
Cofer
G P
GP
Hedlund
L W
LW
Johnson
G A
GA
D000818:Animals; D004867:Equipment Design; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013131:Spine / Q000033:anatomy & histology*