Wide Field MR Microscopy using Integrated Gradient and RF Array Coils

使用集成梯度和射频阵列线圈的广域 MR 显微镜

基本信息

批准号：
7458979
负责人：
Steven M Wright
金额：
$ 20.63万
依托单位：
TEXAS ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2007
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2007-09-01 至 2011-08-31
项目状态：
已结题

项目摘要

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The objective of this EBRG proposal is to develop and demonstrate a new high resolution MR imaging technique, wide-field magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM). MR microscopy, defined by most as imaging with a resolution of 100 microns or less in any dimension, will become an invaluable tool as the future of medicine clearly moves towards the cellular level due to its ability to non-invasively probe in vivo and in vitro tissue with high-resolution while providing the many contrast mechanisms of MRI. While providing high resolution imaging of the tissue microenvironment, conventional MRM is limited to a very small field-of-view by the use of small radiofrequency coils designed to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, or, alternatively, by the time required to encode the MR image over a large field-of-view at high-resolutions. This work proposes a method for wide field MR microscopy. This technique combines parallel imaging and a unique phase correcting gradient channel to enable high resolution MRI over a large field-of-view at greatly reduced imaging times. The technological advancement to be developed in this project is an integrated gradient and RF array coil which provides the user a choice between extremely high-resolution imaging or extremely fast imaging (at reduced resolution). Both are enabled by using an array of 64 or more aligned receiver coils to parallelize the imaging process, reducing reliance on gradient-based phase encoding. High- speed digital receivers enable the field-of-view to be increased along the long-axis of the parallel coils, while parallel imaging increases the field-of-view in the opposite direction. A planar gradient coil will be optimized and an independent, fourth gradient channel integrated into the MR scanner to compensate for distant dependent phase shifts imparted by the receive coils which reduce signal strength in highly accelerated MR imaging. Finally, a team of collaborators interested in the potential of wide-field MR microscopy, including two experts in MR microscopy and three clinical scientists, will provide tissue samples of different types for testing and assessing the new method. If successful, this project will enable MR microscopy with wider perspective and higher speed than previously possible, extending it into a broader range of applications. Magnetic resonance microscopy extends the power of clinical magnetic resonance imaging to extremely high resolutions, potentially down to cellular resolution. The goal of this project is to develop a new technique, wide field MR microscopy, which combines parallel imaging with a unique phase correcting gradient to enable high resolution MRI over a large field of view at greatly reduced imaging times. This technique is enabled by a new probe design which will provide the ability to perform MR microscopy at either extremely high spatial resolution or extremely high temporal resolution over the same field-of-view.

描述（由申请人提供）：该 EBRG 提案的目的是开发和演示一种新的高分辨率 MR 成像技术，即宽场磁共振显微镜 (MRM)。 MR 显微镜被大多数人定义为在任何维度上分辨率为 100 微米或更小的成像，由于其能够在体内和体外进行非侵入性探测，因此随着医学的未来明显转向细胞水平，MR 显微镜将成为一种宝贵的工具高分辨率组织，同时提供 MRI 的多种对比机制。在提供组织微环境的高分辨率成像的同时，传统的 MRM 通过使用旨在提高信噪比的小型射频线圈，或者，或者，通过使用在大视场范围内以高分辨率对 MR 图像进行编码。这项工作提出了一种宽视场磁共振显微镜的方法。该技术结合了并行成像和独特的相位校正梯度通道，可在大视场上实现高分辨率 MRI，同时大大缩短成像时间。该项目要开发的技术进步是集成梯度和射频阵列线圈，它为用户提供极高分辨率成像或极快速成像（分辨率降低）之间的选择。两者都是通过使用 64 个或更多对齐接收器线圈的阵列来实现并行成像过程，从而减少对基于梯度的相位编码的依赖。高速数字接收器能够沿着平行线圈的长轴增加视场，而并行成像则在相反方向上增加视场。平面梯度线圈将被优化，独立的第四梯度通道将集成到 MR 扫描仪中，以补偿由接收线圈产生的远距离相关相移，这些相移会降低高度加速 MR 成像中的信号强度。最后，对广域磁共振显微镜的潜力感兴趣的合作者团队（包括两名磁共振显微镜专家和三名临床科学家）将提供不同类型的组织样本，用于测试和评估新方法。如果成功，该项目将使磁共振显微镜比以前具有更广阔的视角和更高的速度，从而将其扩展到更广泛的应用领域。磁共振显微镜将临床磁共振成像的能力扩展到极高的分辨率，甚至可能低至细胞分辨率。该项目的目标是开发一种新技术，即宽视场 MR 显微镜，它将并行成像与独特的相位校正梯度相结合，能够在大视场上实现高分辨率 MRI，同时大大缩短成像时间。这项技术是通过新的探头设计实现的，该设计将提供在同一视场内以极高的空间分辨率或极高的时间分辨率执行磁共振显微镜的能力。