Development of an Add-on ²³Na-MRI Radiofrequency Platform for a ¹H-MRI System Using a Crossband Repeater:...

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Biophysics
• Radiofrequency Engineering

Background:

• Sodium-23 MRI (23Na-MRI) offers valuable insights into sodium content, crucial for medical diagnostics.
• Implementing 23Na-MRI on standard clinical proton MRI (1H-MRI) systems is challenging due to hardware requirements.
• Existing 1H-MRI systems often lack the necessary components for direct 23Na imaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel add-on system enabling 23Na-MRI on existing 1H-MRI platforms.
• To overcome the hardware limitations of standard clinical MRI scanners for sodium imaging.
• To facilitate broader clinical adoption of 23Na-MRI.

Main Methods:

• Developed an add-on crossband RF repeater system compatible with clinical 1H-MRI scanners.
• Integrated the system into the magnet bore of an existing 1H-MRI system.
• Utilized the native three-axis gradient fields of the 1H-MRI system for 23Na imaging without modification.

Main Results:

• Successfully demonstrated 23Na-MRI capability using the add-on system in a saline solution phantom.
• Validated the system's performance through in vivo mouse experiments.
• Confirmed that the add-on RF platform is directly applicable to medical 1H-MRI systems.

Conclusions:

• The developed add-on crossband RF repeater system effectively enables 23Na-MRI on standard 1H-MRI scanners.
• This approach bypasses the need for extensive hardware modifications to existing clinical MRI systems.
• The innovation significantly enhances the potential for widespread clinical application of 23Na-MRI.