Design and evaluation of a multi-purpose RF coil for improving regional MR image quality in the mouse brain

The RF coil is an essential component which often limits the achievable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and image quality in MRI. For preclinical applications, a small coil is commonly employed to target specific regions, thereby enhancing the SNR. However, this approach comes at the expense of reduced coverage.

This work aimed to assess the performance of a newly developed multi-purpose RF coil, which is adjustable to superficial or deep region-focused mode, for imaging the mouse brain using a 3 T MR system.

This novel design features a surface coil combined with an add-on, position-switchable saddle coil, allowing for two configurations: enhanced and extended modes. These modes were arranged to focus more on either the cortical or deeper regions of the brain, respectively. To evaluate the performance, the conventional surface coils with two different sizes were compared by imaging a 3D-printed phantom and an in vivo mouse brain.

Using the enhanced mode, the multi-purpose coil presented a higher signal-to-noise ratio than the small but frequently used loop coil in both phantom and mouse brain imaging. In the extended mode, we found that the multi-purpose coil outperformed the large surface coil.

The utilization of different modes could enhance image quality adaptively for both surface and deep regions of interest. We have demonstrated a simple yet novel concept of RF coil design that enhances the regional image quality for mouse brain imaging, offering great potential for preclinical neuroscience applications.