title: Surface coil imaging of rat spine at 7.0 T.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Center for In Vivo Microscopy, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Banson
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Cofer
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Hedlund
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004867:Equipment Design; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013131:Spine / Q000033:anatomy & histology*