mohammad mohammadzadeh1,2 and alireza ghasempour Shirazi1
1ICT, University of applied science and technology, Tehran, Iran, 2Shahid Beheshti, Tehran, Iran
Synopsis
Monopole coil has a thin and
flexible structure provides high-resolution MR images from the internal vessels
such as aorta and coronary arteries. However, its SNR homogeneity decreases at
higher Tesla MRI systems, leading to increasing the image artifact caused
by the wall movement which is not fully compensated using
the post processing algorithms. In this study, we introduced a monopole
coil with tree parasitic elements and compared its ISNR (Intrinsic SNR)
magnitude and distribution homogeneity to a conventional monopole coil with one
parasitic element for MRI 1.5 T at 64MHz . We optimized the coil geometry using
a fast genetic algorithm written in MATLAB and performed the simulation of the
ISNR indices by Involving HFSS and MATLAB inside a saline phantom.Purpose
Design a new intravascular coil with high uniform SNR distribution to reduce the MRI image artifact of vessel walls caused by the blood pulsed movement.
Theory and Methods
According to the antenna theory, adding parasitic
elements to the RF coil design can increase the homogeneity of magnetic fields produced
around the coil [1]. Developing this idea, we introduced a new monopole MR
antenna with three parasitic elements. The proposed coil has 4cm length and a
diameter of 2.2 mm (See Fig. 1a). Lengths
of the coil parasitic elements are optimized at 63.875 MHz using a genetic
algorithm implemented by involving MATLAB and HFSS. They are obtained as 1, 33,
1 mm respectively. The optimization process has performed by defining a cost
function;$$$ Cost = Total ISNR × Homogeneity$$$. Intrinsic
SNR (ISNR) is a reliable measure to quantify the role of coil
parameters in the MRI image SNR which is defined by $$$ ISNR=k×H
+/√(1-s
112) $$$
where, K is a constant coefficient for a given
sample, S
11 is the
ratio of the reflected power to the input power at the coil’s feed point (point
A at Fig. 1a,b) H
+ is the right-hand circularly polarized magnetic
field component, and R is the real part of the input impedance seen
across the coil input terminals. Total ISNR is the sum of the ISNR data throughout of the phantom and Homogeneity is defined as the inverse variance of the ISNR data of the phantom which is defined as $$$ Homogeneity=1/ISNR
STD $$$.
Results
Figures 2 and 3 show 2D ISNR maps
of the introduced coil (Fig. 1a) and a
previously presented monopole coil with one parasitic element [3](Fig. 1b) in a
sagittal plane (Fig. 1c) inside a saline phantom (Fig. 1d). Decreasing the
signal intensity but increasing the signal homogeneity are resulted in the
introduced coil maps. Figure 4 illustrate the ISNR variation of the proposed
coil and the coil with one parasitic elements along a longitudinal line placed
0.5 cm away from the z axis. Increasing the ISNR homogeneity and decreasing the
maximum ISNR index of the introduced coil are highlighted in this figure. Table 1 verifies that the Maximum ISNR and Total_ISNR
of the introduced coil have decreased by less than 2 times. However, the ISNR
homogeneity of and then the cost function of the introduced coil has increased
by 2.9 and 1.24 times respectively.
Conclusion
In this paper we
introduced a monopole coil with three parasitic elements and assessed the ISNR
values and homogeneity of the coil inside a saline phantom. Results show that
adding parasitic elements to the coil design increases the uniformity of ISNR distribution, which in turn, it will increase MRI image contrast to noise ratio (CNR)
by decreasing the vessel wall movement artifact.
Acknowledgements
No acknowledgement found.References
[1] C. A. Balanis, 2005, Antenna theory and design, analysis and
design, Wiley: New jersey.
[2] D. I. Hoult and et. al., JMR., vol.
24, pp. 71-85, 1995.
[3] M. Mohammadzadeh et al., Meas. Sci. Technol., vol.
17, pp. 1987–1994, 2006. nce experiment,” JMR., vol.
24, pp. 71-85, 1995.