Flora S. Ip1, Jenny Huang2, Kurt H. Bockhorst3, Kishore Mogatadakala3, Terry L. Blasdel4, Ponnada A. Narayana3, Earl L. Smith III2, Jarek Wosik1
1Texas Center for Superconductivity and Electrical Engineering Department, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204-5002, USA; 2College of Optometry, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-2020, USA; 3Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging, Houston Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77204-2020, USA; 4Animal Care Operations, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-2020
We report on the development of a clinically practical surface coil with sufficiently high SNR and large FOV suitable to perform MRI study and quantification of the effects of monocular form-deprivation on the pattern of peripheral refractive errors and eye shape in developing rhesus monkeys using a 7 T Bruker MRI scanner. The coil was designed to fit an infant head size and its design is based on counter rotating currents resonator concept. It consists of two 180 deg. rotated split copper squares separated by 15-mil dielectric substrate. Performance of the coil was tested and also compared with a single loop surface and volume coils. As expected from simulations, the coil exhibits high SNR combined with relatively large FOV.