Rieke Viola, Ganguly Arundhuti, Daniel Bruce L, Scott Greig, Pauly John M, Fahrig Rebecca, Pelc Norbert J, Butts Kim
Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5488, USA.
Magn Reson Med. 2005 Jun;53(6):1409-14. doi: 10.1002/mrm.20494.
The range of RF coils that can be used in combined X-ray/MR (XMR) systems is limited because many conventional coils contain highly X-ray attenuating materials that are visible in the X-ray images and potentially obscure patient anatomy. In this study, an X-ray compatible coil design that has minimal X-ray attenuation in the field of view (FOV) of the X-ray image is presented. In this design, aluminum is used for the loop conductor and discrete elements of the coil are eliminated from the X-ray FOV. A surface coil and an abdominal phased array coil were built using the X-ray compatible design. X-ray attenuation and MR imaging properties of the coils were evaluated and compared to conventional coils. The X-ray compatible phased array coil was used to image patients during two interventional procedures in the XMR system. The X-ray compatible coils allowed for fluoroscopic X-ray image acquisition, without degradation by the coil, while maintaining excellent MR imaging qualities.
