SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING SURFACE COILS

AN IMPORTANT FACTOR THAT LIMITS THE USE OF LOW-COST LOW-FIELD MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI) IS THE REDUCED SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO (SNR) OF LOW-FIELD SYSTEMS AS COMPARED TO HIGH-FIELD MACHINES. SUPERCONDUCTING DETECTION COILS WOULD GREATLY ENHANCE SNR. CONVENTIONAL SUPERCONDUCTORS REQUIRE LIQUID HELIUM COOLING, WHICH WOULD NOT BE FEASIBLE FOR CLINICAL USE. HOWEVER, THE ADVENT OF HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS (HTSC) ALLOWS FOR THE CONSTSRUCTION OF LIQUID NITROGEN-COOLED COILS. WITH SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN SNR. WE HAVE MADE SUCH A COIL AND DEMONSTRATED A 2X IMPROVEMENT IN SNR FOR A SURFACE COIL IN A COMMERCIAL 0.064T MRI SCANNER. FURTHER REFINEMENTS IN COIL DESIGN ARE EXPECTED TO YIELD IMPROVEMENTS OF UP TO 2.8X IN SNR AT THIS FIELD.