Screen-printed flexible MRI receive coils - PubMed (original) (raw)
Screen-printed flexible MRI receive coils
Joseph R Corea et al. Nat Commun. 2016.
Abstract
Magnetic resonance imaging is an inherently signal-to-noise-starved technique that limits the spatial resolution, diagnostic image quality and results in typically long acquisition times that are prone to motion artefacts. This limitation is exacerbated when receive coils have poor fit due to lack of flexibility or need for padding for patient comfort. Here, we report a new approach that uses printing for fabricating receive coils. Our approach enables highly flexible, extremely lightweight conforming devices. We show that these devices exhibit similar to higher signal-to-noise ratio than conventional ones, in clinical scenarios when coils could be displaced more than 18 mm away from the body. In addition, we provide detailed material properties and components performance analysis. Prototype arrays are incorporated within infant blankets for in vivo studies. This work presents the first fully functional, printed coils for 1.5- and 3-T clinical scanners.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Figures
Figure 1. RF receive coil arrays proximity to body results in better image SNR.
(a) Conventional MRI receive arrays on the chest and head of a patient. (b) Cervical spine images of volunteer showing low-SNR when using a coil placed 8 cm away from the spine (left) and high SNR when placed against the skin (right). (c) Schematic representation of fabrication process of flexible printed coils. The screen is patterned with emulsion (blue) and shows the coil design. Ink (grey) is transferred to the substrate (white) during the screen-printing process. (d) Photograph of a printed flexible four-channel coil array fabricated on plastic film and integrated into an infant blanket. The inset shows how a printed coil is stitched into the fabric. (e) Concept drawing of an infant swaddle and hat with an integrated printed receive coil array.
Figure 2. Fabrication method and characterization of printed receive coils.
(a) Schematic of a printed coil showing tuning, Ct, and matching, Cm, capacitors. (b) Photograph of a printed coil. Inset highlights top-down view of printed capacitor. (c) Coil printing process flow showing two optional possible processes: printed dielectric or using the substrate as a dielectric. (d) Dependence of capacitance with top electrode area, dielectric thickness and ink composition. (e) Relative dielectric constant, measured at 127 MHz, as the volume of barium titanate in the ink is increased. High dielectric constant is achieved with barium titanate ink, while low dielectric constant is achieved with ultraviolet-curable ink. Error bars show standard deviation.
Figure 3. 1.5- and 3-T scanner receive coil SNR characterization.
(a) Normalized SNR versus depth into the phantom for coils fabricated with different permutations of printed components at 3 T, with schematic showing coil position 3 mm away from conductive fluid. Bar graph summarizes trends shown in relative SNR for each coil type. Dot on bar graph shows predicted SNR extracted from bench top quality factor measurements. (b) Relative measured (bars) and bench top-predicted (dots) image SNR of printed coils at 1.5 and 3 T. (c) Relative SNR for control and printed coils versus increasing coil offsets from the top surface of the phantom. Black dashed-dotted line highlights the position offset where the control coil shows equal SNR to the printed coils when the printed one has no offset from the top surface of the phantom. Light thin lines represent calculated best case performance when preamplifiers are added to the coil. Error bars show standard deviation. (d) Average normalized SNR profile for printed coils flexed around the surface of a curved saltwater phantom (blue) and placed on a flat phantom (red) at 3 T. Wide coloured bands indicate the s.d. across several coils.
Figure 4. In vivo imaging with flexible coil array at 3 T.
(a) Proof of concept, prototype of printed flexible four-channel receive array. (b) Sagittal cervical spine MRI image showing excellent penetration due to the conformity of the array. (c) Single-element MRI image of a knee. (d) Scan showing the expected improved penetration using a four-channel array wrapped around the leg of a volunteer. Highlighted areas show region of interest with higher SNR from increased field of view from array.
Similar articles
- Materials and methods for higher performance screen-printed flexible MRI receive coils.
Corea JR, Lechene PB, Lustig M, Arias AC. Corea JR, et al. Magn Reson Med. 2017 Aug;78(2):775-783. doi: 10.1002/mrm.26399. Epub 2016 Sep 9. Magn Reson Med. 2017. PMID: 27612330 Free PMC article. - Evaluation of a Flexible 12-Channel Screen-printed Pediatric MRI Coil.
Winkler SA, Corea J, Lechêne B, O'Brien K, Bonanni JR, Chaudhari A, Alley M, Taviani V, Grafendorfer T, Robb F, Scott G, Pauly J, Lustig M, Arias AC, Vasanawala S. Winkler SA, et al. Radiology. 2019 Apr;291(1):180-185. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2019181883. Epub 2019 Feb 26. Radiology. 2019. PMID: 30806599 Free PMC article. - Dielectric properties of 3D-printed materials for anatomy specific 3D-printed MRI coils.
Behzadnezhad B, Collick BD, Behdad N, McMillan AB. Behzadnezhad B, et al. J Magn Reson. 2018 Apr;289:113-121. doi: 10.1016/j.jmr.2018.02.013. Epub 2018 Feb 21. J Magn Reson. 2018. PMID: 29500942 Free PMC article. - Sodium MRI radiofrequency coils for body imaging.
Bangerter NK, Kaggie JD, Taylor MD, Hadley JR. Bangerter NK, et al. NMR Biomed. 2016 Feb;29(2):107-18. doi: 10.1002/nbm.3392. Epub 2015 Sep 29. NMR Biomed. 2016. PMID: 26417667 Review. - Design and use of internal receiver coils for magnetic resonance imaging.
Gilderdale DJ, deSouza NM, Coutts GA, Chui MK, Larkman DJ, Williams AD, Young IR. Gilderdale DJ, et al. Br J Radiol. 1999 Dec;72(864):1141-51. doi: 10.1259/bjr.72.864.10703469. Br J Radiol. 1999. PMID: 10703469 Review.
Cited by
- Novel Conductive AgNP-Based Adhesive Based on Novel Poly (Ionic Liquid)-Based Waterborne Polyurethane Chloride Salts for E-Textiles.
Liao H, Xiao Y, Xiao T, Kuang H, Feng X, Sun X, Cui G, Duan X, Shi P. Liao H, et al. Polymers (Basel). 2024 Feb 17;16(4):540. doi: 10.3390/polym16040540. Polymers (Basel). 2024. PMID: 38399919 Free PMC article. - Miniature and flexible Bazooka balun for high-field MRI.
Chai S, Yan X. Chai S, et al. J Magn Reson. 2023 Nov;356:107577. doi: 10.1016/j.jmr.2023.107577. Epub 2023 Oct 25. J Magn Reson. 2023. PMID: 37897924 - Flexible multi-purpose integrated RF/shim coil array for MRI and localized B0 shimming.
Overson DK, Darnell D, Robb F, Song AW, Truong TK. Overson DK, et al. Magn Reson Med. 2024 Feb;91(2):842-849. doi: 10.1002/mrm.29891. Epub 2023 Oct 17. Magn Reson Med. 2024. PMID: 37849021 - Dual-Channel Stretchable, Self-Tuning, Liquid Metal Coils and Their Fabrication Techniques.
Motovilova E, Ching T, Vincent J, Shin J, Tan ET, Taracila V, Robb F, Hashimoto M, Sneag DB, Winkler SA. Motovilova E, et al. Sensors (Basel). 2023 Sep 1;23(17):7588. doi: 10.3390/s23177588. Sensors (Basel). 2023. PMID: 37688046 Free PMC article. - Electrohydrodynamic Printed Ultra-Micro AgNPs Thin Film Temperature Sensors Array for High-Resolution Sensing.
He Y, Li L, Su Z, Xu L, Guo M, Duan B, Wang W, Cheng B, Sun D, Hai Z. He Y, et al. Micromachines (Basel). 2023 Aug 17;14(8):1621. doi: 10.3390/mi14081621. Micromachines (Basel). 2023. PMID: 37630157 Free PMC article.
References
- Lauterbur P. C. Image formation by induced local interactions - examples employing nuclear magnetic-resonance. Nature 242, 190–191 (1973). - PubMed
- Nishimura D. Principles of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Stanford Univ. (2010).
- Wright G. A. Magnetic resonance imaging. IEEE Sig. Proc. Mag. 14, 56–66 (1997).
- Hoult D. I. & Lauterbur P. C. Sensitivity of the zeugmatographic experiment involving human samples. J. Magn. Reson. 34, 425–433 (1979).
- Pruessmann K. P., Weiger M., Scheidegger M. B. & Boesiger P. SENSE: sensitivity encoding for fast MRI. Magn. Reson. Med. 42, 952–962 (1999). - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical