High SNR flexible top hat monopole probe for 1.5 T MRI

In this paper, design principles and application of a thin and flexible intravascular top hat monopole probe with increased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and improved longitudinal and radial coverage are described and compared with the conventional monopole probe. The top hat probe is constructed by r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Measurement science & technology 2006-07, Vol.17 (7), p.1987-1994
Main Authors: Mohammadzadeh, M, Shahabadi, M, Soltanian-Zadeh, H, Tavakoli, A, Rafiei, B, Javidnia, D, Oghabian, M A
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:In this paper, design principles and application of a thin and flexible intravascular top hat monopole probe with increased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and improved longitudinal and radial coverage are described and compared with the conventional monopole probe. The top hat probe is constructed by removing a segment of the shield of a coaxial cable. A flexible thin copper foil in contact with the inner conductor of the cable is added to the end section of the cable. The copper foil acts as an antenna top hat load increasing the uniformity of the current distribution on the probe and establishes a uniform region of SNR distribution around the probe. Improvement of the SNR distribution of the top hat probe relative to the conventional monopole probe is evaluated using quantitative indices. Experimental results show that for the top hat probe, the ratio of the maximum image SNR to its relative standard deviation (SR) is 2.73 times higher than that of a conventional probe.
ISSN:0957-0233
1361-6501
DOI:10.1088/0957-0233/17/7/043