Whole body screening using high-temperature superconducting MR volume resonators: mice studies

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Materials Science
• Physics

Background:

• High temperature superconducting (HTS) resonators offer low RF loss for improved MRI quality.
• Limited filling factor of HTS resonators restricts their application.
• Wrapping resonators around samples maximizes filling factor and signal contribution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design a novel Bi(2)Sr(2)Ca(2)Cu(2)O(3) (Bi-2223) superconducting saddle resonator for whole-body mouse MRI.
• To evaluate the performance of the HTS resonator against a conventional copper resonator.

Main Methods:

• A 5 cm x 8 cm Bi-2223 superconducting saddle resonator was designed for a 3 T MRI system.
• Experiments compared the Bi-2223 resonator at 77 K with a copper resonator at 300 K.
• Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was measured for phantom and in-vivo mouse imaging.

Main Results:

• The HTS saddle resonator achieved a 2.1-fold and 2-fold higher SNR than the copper resonator for phantom and in-vivo mouse imaging, respectively.
• Experimental results closely matched predicted SNR gains (2.4%–2.7% difference).
• The HTS resonator enabled whole-body mouse imaging in a single scan.

Conclusions:

• The developed Bi-2223 superconducting saddle resonator significantly enhances MRI SNR.
• This HTS resonator allows for efficient, high-SNR, whole-body imaging of mice in one scan.
• The technology holds promise for advancing preclinical MRI applications.