PURPOSE: To evaluate three multicoil breast arrays for both conventional and SENSE-accelerated imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 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. RESULTS: 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. CONCLUSION: 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.
PURPOSE: To evaluate three multicoil breast arrays for both conventional and SENSE-accelerated imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 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. RESULTS: 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. CONCLUSION: 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.
Authors: Anderson N Nnewihe; Thomas Grafendorfer; Bruce L Daniel; Paul Calderon; Marcus T Alley; Fraser Robb; Brian A Hargreaves Journal: Magn Reson Med Date: 2011-02-01 Impact factor: 4.668
Authors: Samantha By; Joseph V Rispoli; Sergey Cheshkov; Ivan Dimitrov; Jiaming Cui; Stephen Seiler; Sally Goudreau; Craig Malloy; Steven M Wright; Mary Preston McDougall Journal: PLoS One Date: 2014-11-24 Impact factor: 3.240