Diffusion tensor echo planar imaging using surface coil transceiver with a semiadiabatic RF pulse sequence at 14.1T.

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
• Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)

Background:

• Traditional volume coils in diffusion MRI offer suboptimal signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for rodent brains due to limited brain volume.
• Surface coils offer potential for increased SNR and reduced radiofrequency power, enabling faster imaging sequences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and evaluate a semi-adiabatic echo planar imaging (EPI) sequence using a surface coil transceiver for high-field rodent brain diffusion MRI.
• To assess the image quality, SNR, and accuracy of diffusion tensor derived parameters in rat brains.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a semi-adiabatic EPI sequence with echo time (TE) of 40 ms and four interleaves.
• Utilized a quadrature surface coil as a transceiver at 14.1T for diffusion MRI acquisition.
• Acquisition of diffusion tensor imaging data in rat brains.

Main Results:

• Achieved artifact-free diffusion-weighted images with excellent SNR across the entire rat brain.
• Diffusion tensor derived parameters showed excellent agreement with previously reported values.
• Demonstrated the feasibility of high-performance diffusion MRI in small animal models.

Conclusions:

• Surface coil transceiver technology combined with semi-adiabatic EPI enables high-quality, efficient diffusion MRI in rodent brains.
• This approach overcomes limitations of volume coils for small brain imaging.
• The method provides accurate diffusion tensor parameters, crucial for preclinical neuroscience research.