title: 32-channel RF coil optimized for brain and cervical spinal cord at 3 T.
abstract: Diffusion and functional magnetic resonance imaging of the spinal cord remain challenging due to the small cross-sectional size of the cord and susceptibility-related distortions. Although partially addressable through parallel imaging, few highly parallel array coils have been implemented for the cervical cord. Here, we developed a 32-channel coil that fully covers the brain and c-spine and characterized its performance in comparison with a commercially available head/neck/spine array. Image and temporal signal-to-noise ratio were, respectively, increased by 2× and 1.8× in the cervical cord. Averaged g-factors at 4× acceleration were lowered by 22% in the brain and by 39% in the spinal cord, enabling 1-mm isotropic R = 4 multi-echo magnetization prepared gradient echo of the full brain and c-spine in 3:20 min. Diffusion imaging of the cord at 0.6 × 0.6 × 5 mm(3) resolution and tractography of the full brain and c-spine at 1.7-mm isotropic resolution were feasible without noticeable distortion. Improvements of this nature potentially enhance numerous basic and clinical research studies focused on spinal and supraspinal regions.
authors: AA Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, USA. jcohen@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Cohen-Adad
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Mareyam
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Keil
authors: J R
authors: JR
authors: Polimeni
authors: L L
authors: LL
authors: Wald
mesh_terms: D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000295:instrumentation; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation*; D061214:Patient Safety; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011846:Radio Waves; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D013118:Spinal Cord Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*