• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.976-983
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• 2000

In this paper, Bridcage type RF coils used widely as RF coils for MRI and its applicable type, spiral type RF coil are analyzed and designed using FDTD method. In low tesla (IT, 1.5T) MRI system, several tools have been used for the analysis and design of the RF coils for MRI. This includes, so-called, LC equivalent circuit method for predicting the resonance frequency of the coil and the Biot-Savart law to determine the field distribution within the coil. Both of the circuit analysis and Biot-Savart law are low frequency techniques. Therefore, at high frequency applications, the circuit model approximation breaks down because the coil geometry is a significant fraction of the wavelength. In this paper, we analyzed and designed RF coils for 3T MRI using FDTD method. This method is a full wave analysis and very accurate at low and high frequencies. Also, this RF coils are actually fabricated and FDTD models of RF coils for MRI are proven.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.95-122
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• 2020

In this article, we evaluated the performance of radiofrequency (RF) coils in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) and homogeneity of magnetic resonance images when used for ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) 7T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). High-quality MRI can be obtained when these two basic requirements are met. However, because of the dielectric effect, 7T magnetic resonance imaging still produces essentially a non-uniform magnetic flux (|B₁|) density distribution. In general, heterogeneous and homogeneous RF coils may be designed using electromagnetic (EM) modeling. Heterogeneous coils, which are surface coils, are used in consideration of scalability in the |B₁| region with a high S/N as multichannel loop coils rather than selecting a single loop. Loop coils are considered state of the art for their simplicity yet effective |B₁|-field distribution and intensity. In addition, combining multiple loop coils allows phase arrays (PA). PA coils have gained great interest for use in receiving signals because of parallel imaging (PI) techniques, such as sensitivity encoding (SENSE) and generalized autocalibrating partial parallel acquisition (GRAPPA), which drastically reduce the acquisition time. With the introduction of a parallel transmit coil (pTx) system, a form of transceiver loop arrays has also been proposed. In this article, we discussed the applications and proposed designs of loop coils. RF homogeneous coils for volume imaging include Alderman-Grant resonators, birdcage coils, saddle coils, traveling wave coils, transmission line arrays, composite right-/left-handed arrays, and fusion coils. In this article, we also discussed the basic operation, design, and applications of these coils.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.1010-1013
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• 2012

This paper demonstrates the use of the convex optimization to localize the transverse magnetic $B_1^+$ field in regions of interest for recently proposed multi-sectioned alternating impedance coils and the traditional transmission line coil. An approach based on different axial slices to identical RF coils except upper stripline structure is investigated. Electromagnetic simulation results are compared for RF coils and discussed in detail at 7.0 T.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1997 no.05
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• pp.227-229
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• 1997

A new phased-array quadrature RF coil for one or two RF acquisition channels is developed for spine MR imaging. Quadrature RF coils for MRI have been useful to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by $"\sqrt{2}"$ using two orthogonal RF coils in combination [1]. More recently, the phased-array RF coil has been proposed for more improvement of SNR by using an array of RF coil elements with a reduced size and coverage for each element. Two new schemes are proposed for the new phased-array quadrature RF coil as follows : (1) Proper overlapping of two quadrature RF coils thus removing the mutual inductance and (2) Attaching preamplifiers right after the coil section and combining the signal with proper phase delays. The coil has been implemented for receive- only mode. It has been tested through phantom and volunteer imaging. The experimental results show the utility of the proposed RF coil.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.171-176
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• 2009

Purpose : To investigate the effect of coating material in RF coil, which is one of main parts in MRI machine, on the Q-factor and SNR(signal-to-noise ratio) in MR images. Materials and Methods : RF coils with inner diameter of 1.7 mm were made by using copper wires coated with polyester, polyurethane, polyimide, polyamideimide, and polyester-imide, and by using copper wires in which coating materials had been removed. Q-factors of the RF coils were measured by network analyzer, and SNR values in the spin-echo MR images obtained by 600 MHz (14.1 T, Bruker DMX600) micro-imaging system for the coated and uncoated cases. Results : The measured SNRs were almost same for the RF coils with coat-removed copper wires, however SNRs and Q-factors were different for the coated cases depending on the coating material. They were maximized in the polyurethane-coated case in which the SNR was > 30% greater than polyester-coated case. Conclusion : We made solenoid-type RF coils which were easily used for MR micro-imaging in Bruker MRI probe. There was a significant coating-material dependence in the measured Q values and SNRs for the home-made RF coils. The study demonstrated that the choice of coating material of RF coil may be a critical factor in the MRI sensitivity based on SNR value.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.129-132
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• 1998

A new one-channel phased-array quadrature RF coil is developed for spine MR imaging. Quadrature RF coils for MRI have been used to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by$"\squt{2}"$ using two orthogonal RF coils in combination. More recently, the phased-array RF coil has been proposed for more improvement of SNR by using an array of reduced-size RF coil elements. Two schemes proposed for the new phased-array quadrature RF coil are:(1) Proper overlapping of two quadrature RF coils thus removing the mutual inductance and (2) Attaching preamplifiers right after the coil section and combining the signal with proper phase delays. The coil has been implemented for receive-only mode, and tested by phantom and volunteer imaging. The experimental results show the utility of the proposed RF coil.d RF coil.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.65 no.10
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• pp.1727-1730
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• 2016

Magnetic resonance imaging has a potential to produce clear anatomical as well as functional images of human body. However, the ability to diagnose is limited by signal to noise ratio (SNR) and the resolution of current medical systems. To remove the challenges prevalent due to the use of high field scanners, dedicated radio frequency coils are used. Transverse electromagnetic coils have an advantage of providing homogeneous magnetic field throughout the region but with low signal to noise ratio while surface coils have an advantage of providing higher signal to noise ratio but with low homogeneity. This research combines both the advantage into one by utilizing transmit only transverse electromagnetic radio frequency coils (8 channel) along with receive only surface coils (by varying the number) for better imaging of brain. A 7 Tesla 32-channel close fitting helmet shaped phased-array surface coils along with the combination of 8 channel transmit only transverse electromagnetic coils provided good homogeneity as well as significant SNR improvements throughout the human brain.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.35-38
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• 2005

In our country, the skin image and MR Microscopy research has been processed but there were not their outstanding results. So this study start to improve the techniques can get high resolution skin images and to make RF surface coils. Volume coils are sometimes unavailable, or do not provide adequate RF power or SNR for some applications. In high resolution skin and tissue structure images current coils have a technical limitation. It is well known that standard single-loop surface coils, although offering high SNR characteristics, have poor B1 homogeneity. As the RF surface coil need change its geometry we get improved images. So, The magnetic field simulation that is first step to make and design RF surface coil will support reference data.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1997 no.11
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• pp.291-293
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• 1997

A new quadrature RF coil is designed for Breast MR Imaging. Quadrature RF coils for MRI have been useful to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by "$\sqrt{2}$" using two orthogonal RF coils in combination. A modified Breast Quadrature coil is designed. It is a modified type of the high-pass birdcage coil. To reduce the field distortion, by using current feeding, the field pattern is optimized to achieve a quadrature circularly-polarized field pattern. The coil has been implemented for receive-only mode, and tested by phantom imaging. The experimental results show the utility of the proposed RF coil.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.153-158
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to improve the technique so as to develop an advanced sensitive RF surface coil for investigating the sensitivities of the multi-spiral surface coils, and we eventually wanted to achieve high resolution of the microscopic MR images and MR spectra. The magnetic field inhomogeneity and shape of a surface coil were statistically estimated by simulation of the magnetic field distribution. On the basis of the experimental results with single, 3 and S-turned spiral RF surface coils, we found that the 3-turned coil had the highest sensitivity. The present study showed that the sensitivity of the RF surface coil was improved by increasing the number of spiral coil turns, and also the SNR of the RF surface coil was dependent upon the number of spiral coil turns. However, we found, rather strikingly, that the sensitivity of excessive turns of the coils was decreased due to the rise of the coil's Impedance. Thus, the present results demonstrated that the sensitivity was not proportional to the number of a spiral RF coil's turns, and the number of spiral coil turns should be optimized for obtaining the highest sensitivity and SNR.