Magnetic Resonance Imaging at field strengths up to 3 T, has become a default diagnostic modality for a variety of disorders and injuries, due to multiple reasons ranging from its non-invasive nature to the possibility of obtaining high resolution images of internal organs and soft tissues. Despite tremendous advances, MR imaging of certain anatomical regions and applications present specific challenges to be overcome. One such application is MR Musculo-Skeletal Imaging. This work addresses a few difficult areas within MSK imaging from the hardware perspective, with coil solutions for dynamic imaging of knee and high field imaging of hand.
Starting with a brief introduction to MR physics, different types of RF coils are introduced in chapter 1, followed by sections on design of birdcage coils, phased arrays and their characterization in chapter 2. Measurements, calculations and simulations, done during the course of this work, have been added to this chapter to give a quantitative feel of the concepts explained.
Chapter 3 deals with the construction of a phased array receiver for dynamic imaging of knee of a large animal model, i.e. minipig, at 1.5 T. Starting with details on the various aspects of an application that need to be considered when an MR RF array is designed, the chapter details the complex geometry of the region of interest in a minipig and reasons that necessitate a high density array. The sizes of the individual elements that constitute the array have been arrived at by studying the ratio of unloaded to loaded Q factors and choosing a size that provides the best ratio but still maintains a uniform SNR throughout the movement of the knee. To have a minimum weight and to allow mechanical movement of the knee, the Preamplifiers were located in a separate box. A movement device was constructed to achieve adjustable periodic movement of the knee of the anesthetized animal. The constructed array has been characterized for its SNR and compared with an existing product coil to show the improvement. The movement device was also characterized for its reproducibility. High resolution static images with anatomical details marked have been presented. The 1/g maps show the accelerations possible with the array. Snapshots of obtained dynamic images trace the cruciate ligaments through a cycle of movement of the animal's knee.
The hardware combination of a high density phased array and a movement device designed for a minipig's knee was used as a 'reference' and extended in chapter 4 for a human knee. In principle the challenges are similar for dynamic imaging of a human knee with regards to optimization of the elements, the associated electronics and the construction of the movement device. The size of the elements were optimized considering the field penetration / sensitivity required for the internal tissues. They were distributed around the curvature of the knee keeping in mind the acceleration required for dynamic imaging and the direction of the movement. The constructed movement device allows a periodic motion of the lower half of the leg, with the knee placed within the coil, enabling visualization of the tissues inside, while the leg is in motion. Imaging has been performed using dynamic interleaved acquisition sequence where higher effective TR and flip angles are achieved due to a combination of interleaving and segmentation of the sequence. The movement device has been characterized for its reproducibility while the SNR distribution of the constructed RF array has been compared with that of a commercially available standard 8 channel array. The results show the improvement in SNR and acceleration with the constructed geometry. High resolution static images, dynamic snapshots and the 3D segmentation of the obtained images prove the usefulness of the complete package provided in the design, for performing dynamic imaging at a clinically relevant field strength.
A simple study is performed in chapter 5 to understand the effects of changes in overlap for coil configurations with different loads and at different frequencies. The noise levels of individual channels and the correlation between them are plotted against subtle changes in overlap, at 64 and 123 MHz. SNR for every overlap setup is also measured and plotted. Results show that achieving critical overlap is crucial to obtain the best possible SNR in those coil setups where the load offered by the sample is low.
Chapter 6 of the thesis work deals with coil design for high field imaging of hand and wrists at 7 T, with an aim to achieve ultra high resolution imaging. At this field strength due to the increase in dielectric effects and the resulting decrease in homogeneity, whole body transmit coils are impractical and this has led engineers to design local transmit coils, for specific anatomies. While transmit or transceive arrays are usually preferred, to mitigate SAR effects, the spatial resolution obtained is limited. It is shown that a solution to this, with regards to hand imaging, can be a single volume transmit coil, along with high density receive arrays optimized for different regions of the hand. The use of a phased array for reception provides an increased SNR / penetration under high resolution. A volume transmit coil could pose issues in homogeneity at 7 T, but the specific anatomy of hand and wrist, with comparatively less water content, limits dielectric effects to have homogeneous B_1+ profile over the hand. To this effect, a bandpass birdcage and a 12 channel receive array are designed and characterized. Images of very high spatial resolution (0.16 x 0.16 x 0.16 mm3) with internal tissues marked are presented. In vivo 1/g maps show that an acceleration of up to 3 is possible and the EM simulation results presented show the uniform field along with SAR hotspots in the hand. To reduce the stress created due to the 'superman' position of imaging, provisions in the form of a holder and a hand rest have been designed and presented. Factors that contributed to the stability of the presented design are also listed, which would help future designs of receive arrays at high field strengths.
In conclusion, the coils and related hardware presented in this thesis address the following two aspects of MSK imaging: Dynamic imaging of knee and High resolution imaging of hand / wrist. The presented hardware addresses specific challenges and provides solutions. It is hoped that these designs are steps in the direction of improving the existing coils to get a better knowledge and understanding of MSK diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis. The hardware can aid our study of ligament reconstruction and development. The high density array and transmit coil design for hand / wrist also demonstrates the benefits of the obtained SNR at 7 T while maintaining SAR within limits. This design is a contribution towards optimizing hardware at high field strength, to make it clinically acceptable and approved by regulatory bodies. / Die Magnetresonanztomographie mit Feldstärken bis zu 3 T ist zu einer Standard- Diag-nosemethode für eine Vielzahl von Erkrankungen und Verletzungen geworden. Das hat mehrere Gründe, angefangen von ihrer nicht-invasiven Natur bis hin zu ihrer Fähigkeit,hochaufgelöste Bilder von inneren Organen und Weichteilen zu erhalten. Trotz enormer Fortschritte stellt die MR-Bildgebung bestimmter anatomischer Regionen oder bei bestimmten Anwendungen und Fragestellungen eine besondere Herausforderung dar. Eine dieser Anwendungen ist die MR-Bildgebung am Muskuloskelettalen System (MSK). Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit einigen schwierigen Fragestellungen innerhalb der MSK-Bildgebung aus aus der Perspektive der Hardware-Entwicklung: mit Spulendesigns für die dynamische Bildgebung des Knies und mit MR-Bildgebung der Hand bei hohen Magentfeldern. Nach einer kurzen Einführung in die MR-Physik werden in Kapitel 1 dann verschiedene Typen von Hochfrequenz-Spulen (HF-Spulen) vorgestellt, gefolgt in Kapitel 2 mit Abhandlungen des Designs von Birdcage-Spulen, Phased Arrays und deren Charakterisierung. Außerdem enthält das Kapitel Messungen, Berechnungen und Simulationen, die im Rahmen dieser Arbeit durchgeführt wurden, um einen quantitativen Eindruck von den erläuterten Konzepten zu vermitteln. Kapitel 3 befasst sich mit dem Aufbau eines Phased-Array-Empfängers für die dynamische Bildgebung des Knies an einem großen Tiermodell (Minipig) bei 1,5 T. Es werden detailliert verschiedene Aspekte erläutert, die bei der Konstruktion eines RF-Arrays berücksichtigt werden müssen. Des Weiteren beschreibt das Kapitel die komplexe Geometrie des Zielbereichs am Knie des Minipigs und die Gründe für ein Array mitvielen Spulenelementen. ...
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uni-wuerzburg.de/oai:opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de:20416 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Raghuraman, Sairamesh |
| Source Sets | University of Würzburg |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | doctoralthesis, doc-type:doctoralThesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.de, info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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