ASK-Asymmetric Saddle K-Topology for Spinal Cord Imaging

Modhurin Banerjee Snyder¹, Pei H. Chan¹, Fraser Robb¹

A coil system based exclusively on the Double Asymmetric Saddle Pair motif was conceived as an extension of the work done with the DLAS (Double Loop Asymmetric Saddle) system. This coil system, dubbed the ASK (Asymmetric Saddle K-topology) was evaluated for SNR and uniformity-of-response performance against loop-based, quadrature loop/saddle-based, and DLAS based designs via phantom imaging. The relative SNR gain provided by the ASK array compared to the DLAS ranges from 40 % at the periphery to 15% at the center; furthermore, the ASK system demonstrated a peak SNR (at center) 20% better than the standard Quadrature Coil(QD).