Janka R, Fellner F, Fellner C, Requardt M, Reykowski A, Lang W, Bautz W
Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.
Eur Radiol. 2000;10(11):1745-9. doi: 10.1007/s003300000486.
In this paper we introduce a phased-array coil dedicated for MRA of peripheral arteries which covers the upper and lower legs. The structure of this coil includes a solid cabinet with four flexible wings forming a "T." The flexibility of the wings allows adaptation to the individual leg size. There are eight circularly polarized channels, four on each side. This coil is compatible with other surface coils. For MRA of peripheral arteries, it is combined with the body phased-array coil and the spine array coil which cover the lower abdomen and the pelvis. We examined six patients using this coil combination. The image quality, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of these examinations were compared with that of peripheral MRA examinations obtained with the body resonator. Image quality with the array coil was considerably improved in comparison with the body resonator examinations. The SNR and CNR increased approximately 100%. The handling of this coil was very quick and simple, similar to the procedure with other surface coils. The use of dedicated phased-array coils for peripheral MRA may be an important step toward the establishment of MR digital subtraction angiography (DSA) as a non-invasive alternative to intra-arterial DSA in the visualization of peripheral arteries. Its potential has to be evaluated in future studies.
在本文中，我们介绍了一种专为下肢外周动脉磁共振血管造影（MRA）设计的相控阵线圈。该线圈结构包括一个带有四个柔性翼片的实心机柜，四个翼片形成一个“T”形。翼片的柔韧性使其能够适应个体腿部尺寸。该线圈有八个圆极化通道，两侧各四个。此线圈与其他表面线圈兼容。在外周动脉MRA检查中，它与覆盖下腹部和骨盆的体部相控阵线圈及脊柱阵列线圈联合使用。我们使用这种线圈组合对六名患者进行了检查。将这些检查的图像质量、信噪比（SNR）和对比噪声比（CNR）与使用体部谐振器获得的外周MRA检查结果进行了比较。与体部谐振器检查相比，相控阵线圈的图像质量有了显著提高。SNR和CNR提高了约100%。该线圈的操作非常快速简便，与其他表面线圈的操作过程类似。在外周动脉可视化中，使用专用相控阵线圈进行外周MRA可能是朝着将磁共振数字减影血管造影（DSA）确立为动脉内DSA的非侵入性替代方法迈出的重要一步。其潜力有待在未来的研究中评估。
