In vivo MRI using liquid nitrogen cooled phased array coil at 3.0 T

Area of Science:

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
• Cryogenic Coil Technology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Conventional MRI coils operate at room temperature, limiting achievable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
• Improving SNR is crucial for higher resolution and faster imaging in clinical and research settings.
• Liquid nitrogen cooling offers a potential method to enhance coil performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and construct a liquid nitrogen (LN2) cooled dual-channel array coil for a 3.0-T MRI scanner.
• To evaluate the performance of the LN2 cooled coil against a room-temperature counterpart.
• To assess the potential applications of LN2 cooled coils in clinical and biomedical imaging.

Main Methods:

• A dual-channel array coil was engineered for operation with liquid nitrogen (LN2).
• The LN2 cooled coil and a similar room-temperature coil were tested on a 3.0-T whole-body MRI scanner.
• In vivo imaging of human fingers and ex vivo imaging of a deceased mouse and oil phantom were conducted.

Main Results:

• The LN2 cooled array coil demonstrated a significant signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) gain, reaching up to 240% compared to the room-temperature coil.
• Imaging results indicated superior performance of the cryogenic coil.
• The enhanced SNR facilitates higher resolution imaging capabilities.

Conclusions:

• Liquid nitrogen (LN2) cooled array coils offer a substantial improvement in MRI SNR.
• These cryogenic coils hold promise for high-resolution clinical imaging of small anatomical regions like joints, skin, eyes, and peripheral vessels.
• LN2 cooled arrays are potentially valuable for advanced biomedical imaging, including small animal studies in disease modeling.