4.7 Article

Improved 7 Tesla transmit field homogeneity with reduced electromagnetic power deposition using coupled Tic Tac Toe antennas

Journal

SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
Volume 11, Issue 1, Pages -

Publisher

NATURE PORTFOLIO
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-79807-9

Keywords

-

Funding

  1. NIH [R01MH111265, R01AG063525, R01EB009848]
  2. Ministry of Education of Brazil [13385/13-5]
  3. University of Pittsburgh Center for Research Computing (CRC)
  4. CAPES Foundation

Ask authors/readers for more resources

The 7 Tesla MRI technology offers high resolution and contrast in human images, but faces challenges due to its high operational frequency causing image inhomogeneities and increased power deposition in tissues. Optimization of the Tic Tac Toe RF head coil design has been successful in producing homogeneous magnetic field distributions at low levels of power deposition, validated through electromagnetic simulations and in-vivo testing.
Recently cleared by the FDA, 7 Tesla (7 T) MRI is a rapidly growing technology that can provide higher resolution and enhanced contrast in human MRI images. However, the increased operational frequency (similar to 297 MHz) hinders its full potential since it causes inhomogeneities in the images and increases the power deposition in the tissues. This work describes the optimization of an innovative radiofrequency (RF) head coil coupled design, named Tic Tac Toe, currently used in large scale human MRI scanning at 7 T; to date, this device was used in more than 1,300 neuro 7 T MRI scans. Electromagnetic simulations of the coil were performed using the finite-difference time-domain method. Numerical optimizations were used to combine the calculated electromagnetic fields produced by these antennas, based on the superposition principle, resulting in homogeneous magnetic field distributions at low levels of power deposition in the tissues. The simulations were validated in-vivo using the Tic Tac Toe RF head coil system on a 7 T MRI scanner.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.7
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available