title: Screen-printed flexible MRI receive coils.
abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging is an inherently signal-to-noise-starved technique that limits the spatial resolution, diagnostic image quality and results in typically long acquisition times that are prone to motion artefacts. This limitation is exacerbated when receive coils have poor fit due to lack of flexibility or need for padding for patient comfort. Here, we report a new approach that uses printing for fabricating receive coils. Our approach enables highly flexible, extremely lightweight conforming devices. We show that these devices exhibit similar to higher signal-to-noise ratio than conventional ones, in clinical scenarios when coils could be displaced more than 18 mm away from the body. In addition, we provide detailed material properties and components performance analysis. Prototype arrays are incorporated within infant blankets for in vivo studies. This work presents the first fully functional, printed coils for 1.5- and 3-T clinical scanners.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Corea
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Anita M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Flynn
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Balthazar
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lechêne
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Greig
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.|Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Francisco, California 94722, USA.
authors.forename: Galen D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Reed
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.|Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Francisco, California 94722, USA.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lustig
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Ana C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Arias
mesh_terms: D016477:Artifacts; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011327:Printing / Q000379:methods*; D059629:Signal-To-Noise Ratio