title: 96-Channel receive-only head coil for 3 Tesla: design optimization and evaluation.
abstract: The benefits and challenges of highly parallel array coils for head imaging were investigated through the development of a 3T receive-only phased-array head coil with 96 receive elements constructed on a close-fitting helmet-shaped former. We evaluated several designs for the coil elements and matching circuitry, with particular attention to sources of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) loss, including various sources of coil loading and coupling between the array elements. The SNR and noise amplification (g-factor) in accelerated imaging were quantitatively evaluated in phantom and human imaging and compared to a 32-channel array built on an identical helmet-shaped former and to a larger commercial 12-channel head coil. The 96-channel coil provided substantial SNR gains in the distal cortex compared to the 12- and 32-channel coils. The central SNR for the 96-channel coil was similar to the 32-channel coil for optimum SNR combination and 20% lower for root-sum-of-squares combination. There was a significant reduction in the maximum g-factor for 96 channels compared to 32; for example, the 96-channel maximum g-factor was 65% of the 32-channel value for acceleration rate 4. The performance of the array is demonstrated in highly accelerated brain images.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA. gwiggins@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Graham C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Wiggins
authors.forename: Jonathan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Polimeni
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Potthast
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schmitt
authors.forename: Vijay
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Alagappan
authors.forename: Lawrence L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Wald
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008280:Magnetics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014159:Transducers