Abstract #1508

Optimization of Multi-Turn Litz Wire Radiofrequency Coils for Hyperpolarized Noble Gas Imaging of Rodent Lungs at 73.5mT

William Dominguez-Viqueira^1,2, Marc Carias², Giles E. Santyr^2,3

¹Imaging Laboratories, Robarts Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada; ²Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; ³Department of Medical Imaging, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

SNR at low magnetic field strength can be improved by reducing RF coil noise using Litz wire coils. In this work the number of turns was optimized for Litz wire coils for low field hyperpolarized noble gas imaging of rat lungs. The comparison was conducted at 0.866 MHz and 2.385 MHz corresponding to Larmor frequencies of ¹²⁹Xe and ³He at 73.5 mT. The quality factors and the signal to noise ratio (SNR) for each coil at each frequency were measured. Results demonstrate the advantages of multiturn Litz wire coils obtaining up to 300% improvement compared to copper coils.