Department of Imaging Research, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.
J Magn Reson Imaging. 2010 Feb;31(2):328-38. doi: 10.1002/jmri.22023.
To evaluate three multicoil breast arrays for both conventional and SENSE-accelerated imaging.
Two commercially available 8-element coils and a prototype 16-element coil were compared. One 8-element array had adjustable coils located next to the breast tissue and the other had a fixed coil arrangement; both were designed to allow parallel imaging in the left-right direction. The 16-element coil was designed to have coil sensitivity variation in both the left-right and superior-inferior directions, and also had adjustable coils. Their performance was assessed in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), g-factor, and uniformity with a custom-built phantom.
The 16-element array with adjustable coils provided the highest SNR, while the 8-element coil with a fixed coil arrangement had the best uniformity. All coils performed well for SENSE acceleration in the left-right direction. The 8-element coils did not have the capability for acceleration in the superior-inferior direction across the whole volume. The 16-element coil enabled acceleration in the superior-inferior direction in addition to the left-right direction.
Smaller, adjustable coil elements located next to breast tissue can provide greater SNR than larger, fixed coil elements. A multicoil breast array with high intrinsic SNR and low g-factors enables high-quality parallel imaging.
评估三种多通道乳房阵列在常规和 SENSE 加速成像中的性能。
比较了两个商用 8 通道线圈和一个原型 16 通道线圈。一个 8 通道阵列的线圈可调节，位于乳房组织旁边，另一个则采用固定的线圈排列，均设计用于在左右方向上进行并行成像。16 通道线圈设计用于在左右和上下方向上具有线圈灵敏度变化，并且还具有可调节的线圈。使用定制的体模评估其在信噪比（SNR）、g 因子和均匀性方面的性能。
具有可调节线圈的 16 通道阵列提供了最高的 SNR，而具有固定线圈排列的 8 通道线圈具有最佳的均匀性。所有线圈在左右方向的 SENSE 加速中表现良好。8 通道线圈在整个体积上没有在上下方向进行加速的能力。16 通道线圈除了左右方向外，还可以在上下方向上进行加速。
位于乳房组织旁边的较小、可调节的线圈元件可以比较大、固定的线圈元件提供更高的 SNR。具有高固有 SNR 和低 g 因子的多通道乳房阵列可以实现高质量的并行成像。
