Dual cervical thoracic coil for spine magnetic resonance imaging.
The need for repositioning of surface coils and patients in MR examinations of the cervical and thoracic spine prolongs examination time. A new receiver design is proposed which overcomes this problem. The device is composed of two actively decoupled receiver coils mounted on the frame of a Philadelphia collar. These coils may be used separately to image either the thoracic or cervical spine or together to produce larger field-of-view images of the combined region. Signal-to-noise ratios of the separate cervical and thoracic spine images are not degraded as a result of mounting the receivers together. The full cervical and thoracic region is shown to be imaged at a signal-to-noise ratio significantly higher than that afforded by the body coil. A retrospective review of our case load suggests that a time saving could be achieved in approximately 1/3 of spine examinations by using this coil.
Totterman
S
S
Department of Radiology, University of Rochester, New York.
Foster
T H
TH
Plewes
D B
DB
Simon
J H
JH
Ekholm
S
S
Wicks
A
A
D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology; D013131:Spine / Q000473:pathology*