Fig 1.
The two coils used in this work.
(a): The 4-channel coil positioned around the neck of a volunteer. (b): The 10-channel coil positioned around the neck of a (different) volunteer. The green arrows indicate the degrees of freedom of the coil positioning around the neck of the subject. (c-d) Relative positions and dimensions of 4-channel [20] and 10-channel coils and their individual channels (figures show one of the bilateral sides).
Fig 2.
SNR-units reconstructions from transverse T1-weighted turbo-spin-echo data for one healthy volunteer SNR, acquired without parallel imaging acceleration using (a) the 4-channel coil and (b) the 10-channel coil. SNR contours are shown for both acquisitions at iso-contour levels of 10, 20, 30, and 40.
Fig 3.
Noise correlation matrices for (a) the 4-channel coil and (b) the 10-channel coil. The unilateral coil elements correspond to indices 1–2 and 3–4 for the 4-channel coil and indices 1–5 and 6–10 for the 10-channel coil.
Fig 4.
Estimated g-factor noise amplification in a phantom using the 4-channel and the 10-channel coils, at (a) R = 2 and (b) R = 3. Reconstructions as well as retained SNR (inverse g-factor) maps of a single coronal slice are shown for both coils and at both acceleration factors. The bottom row shows the maximum g-factor in each slice for both the transverse and coronal acquisitions. Note that the maximum g-factor values are shown using a different y-axis scaling in Fig (a) than in Fig (b).
Fig 5.
In vivo estimated g-factor noise amplification using the 4-channel and the 10-channel coils, at (a) R = 2 and (b) R = 3. All data is shown for transverse acquisitions. The top two rows show reconstructions as well as retained SNR (inverse g-factor) maps of a single transverse slice for both coils and at both acceleration factors. The bottom row shows the maximum transverse g-factor in each slice. Note that the maximum g-factor values are shown using a different y-axis scaling in Fig (a) than in Fig (b).
Fig 6.
DANTE-MESE scans of nine healthy volunteers using both coils.
All data is shown to the same greyscale. (a-b) Close-ups near the carotid bifurcation of a single volunteer at four different echo times using (a) the 4-channel coil and (b) the 10-channel coil. (c) Mean carotid wall/lumen CNR results of both coils across the nine volunteers.
Fig 7.
Consecutive DANTE-FSE T1-weighted slice segments showing the carotid bifurcations in two patients with atherosclerotic carotid artery disease, acquired using the new 10-channel coil.
(a-b) Subject 1, left- and right-hand sides; (c) subject 2, right-hand side.