SENSE imaging with a quadrature half-volume transverse electromagnetic (TEM) coil at 4T.
OBJECTIVE
To demonstrate the feasibility of high-field SENSE imaging of large objects, such as the human head, using a semicircular (half-volume) coil for both transmission and multi-channel reception.


METHODS
As a proof of concept, we present experimental data obtained using a seven-element half-volume (180 degrees of arc) transmit/receive quadrature transverse electromagnetic (TEM) coil. SENSE images of the human brain were acquired with a reduction factor of R=2, using two degenerate linear modes of the same coil as independent receive channels at 4T. Since the need for additional hardware (i.e., a separate set of receive coils) is eliminated, the design can be substantially simplified.


RESULTS
The experimental data demonstrate that linear modes of the half-volume TEM coil have essentially no noise correlation, and their sensitivity profiles satisfy the requirement for small g-factors. Also, this type of coil provides efficient transmission with a relatively large uniform region and a reception profile that is more uniform than that of the surface coils.


CONCLUSIONS
We demonstrate the feasibility of SENSE imaging using a half-volume coil. Half-volume coils allow reduced total power deposition compared to full-volume coils, and may replace the latter in body imaging applications in which the target region of interest (ROI) is smaller than the entire torso.
Avdievich
Nikolai I
NI
Department of Radiology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461, USA. navdievi@aecom.yu.edu
Peshkovsky
Alexey S
AS
Kennan
Richard P
RP
Hetherington
Hoby P
HP
D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D055590:Electromagnetic Phenomena; D004867:Equipment Design; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging