Evaluation of high-dielectric pads for macaque brain imaging at 7 T

Rev Sci Instrum. 2021 Oct 1;92(10):104101. doi: 10.1063/5.0057847.

Abstract

A non-human primate is a valuable model for investigating the structure and function of the brain. Different from the human brain imaging using radio frequency (RF) head coils, in the present study, on a human whole-body 7 T magnetic resonance imaging system, we used an RF knee coil for monkey brain imaging in vivo due to the smaller size of the macaque's brain compared to that of a human, and particularly, high-dielectric pads were also utilized in order to improve brain imaging performance. Our experimental results suggest that high-dielectric pads can effectively enhance the B1 field strength and receive sensitivity, leading to a higher flip-angle magnitude, an image signal-to-noise ratio, and tissue contrast, and in the meantime, we did not observe elevated receive array element coupling and receive noise amplification nor apparent magnetic susceptibility-induced artifact or distortion, showing that the pads do not introduce adverse RF interferences in macaque brain imaging at 7 T.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Brain* / diagnostic imaging
  • Equipment Design
  • Macaca*
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Neuroimaging
  • Phantoms, Imaging
  • Radio Waves
  • Signal-To-Noise Ratio