Radiation transparent, flexible and lightweight coils for MRI/PET and MR-guided radiation therapy

Project Abstract Magnetic Resonance imagingMRIused in combination with Positron Emission TomographyPETor radiation therapy has the potential to improve patient safety and clinical managementHoweverthese dual modality systems are currently limited by attenuation caused by the local radio frequencyRFcoils that allow for high resolution and fast imaging in MRThese attenuation caused by these coils causes information loss and degradation of image quality in MR PETand can be a patient concern due to poor treatment planning and additional scattering in MR guided radiation therapyMRgRTCurrent solutions on the market use engineering adjustments and post processing correction methods to deal with this attenuationThough this removes artifacts and allows for better treatment planningthis solution does not solve the fundamental problem of MR receive coil attenuation in the radiation field of viewScreen printed RF coils provide a distinct advantage in this marketScreen printed electronics technology allows for dramatic attenuation reduction over traditional antenna manufacturing techniquesCombined with an effort to remove high density electronics out of the radiation field of viewlocal receive coils manufactured in this way could remove the need for attenuation correction in MR PET and MRgRT altogetherThe goal of this application is to develop the first radiation transparentflexibleRF coil for MR PET and MRgRTThis technology will be leveraged to develop a prototypechannel flexible body array with state of the art MR performance that does not require attenuation correction Project Narrative This proposal addresses a clinical need for hardware used in dual modality imagingWhen Magnetic Resonance ImagingMRIis used in combination with Positron Emission TomographyPETor radiation therapyit requires local receive antennae that cause minimal radiation attenuationBy using screen printed electronics we plan to generate the first radiation invisible coils for dual modality imagingwhich will feel like a blanket to a patient and appear invisible at PET or radiation therapy energies