RF Coil Considerations for Short-T2 MRI

With continuing hardware and pulse sequence advancements, modern MRI is gaining sensitivity to signals from short-T-2 H-1 species under practical experimental conditions. However, conventional MRI coils are typically not designed for this type of application, as they often contain proton-rich construction materials that may contribute confounding H-1 background signal during short-T-2 measurements. An example of this is shown herein. Separately, a loop-gap style coil was used to compare different coil construction materials and configurations with respect to observed H-1 background signal sizes in a small animal imaging system. Background signal sources were spatially identified and quantified in a number of different coil configurations. It was found that the type and placement of structural coil materials around the loop-gap resonator, as well as the coil's shielding configuration, are critical determinants of the coil's background signal size. Although this study employed a loop-gap resonator design, these findings are directly relevant to standard volume coils commonly used for MRI. Magn Reson Med 64:1652-1657, 2010. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.