A Transmit/Receive System for Magnetic Field Monitoring of In Vivo MRI

Magnetic field monitoring with NMR probes has recently been introduced as a means of measuring the actual spatiotemporal magnetic field evolution during individual MR scans. Receive-only NMR probes as used thus far for this purpose impose significant practical limitations due to radiofrequency (RF) interference with the actual MR experiment. In this work these limitations are overcome with a transmit/receive (T/R) monitoring system based on RF-shielded NMR probes. The proposed system is largely autonomous and protected against RF contamination. As a consequence the field probes can be positioned freely and permit monitoring imaging procedures of arbitrary geometry and angulation. The T/R approach is also exploited to simplify probe manufacturing and remove constraints on material choices. Probe miniaturization permits monitoring imaging scans with nominal resolutions on the order of 400 mu m. The added capabilities of the new probes and system are demonstrated by first in vivo results, obtained with monitored gradient-echo and spin-echo echo-planar imaging (EPI)scans. Magn Reson Med 62:269-276,2009. (C) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.