Design & Characterization of a Set of MRI Histology RF Coils Dedicated to Standardized Slide Sections

Dung Minh Hoang¹, Chao Zhang¹, Mesha Shamsie¹, Latifa Fakri-Bouchet², Youssef Zaim Wadghiri¹

A set of three histological coils were designed and tested to accommodate standard off-the-shelf cover-slips commonly used for tissue examination under a microscope with sizes enabling the imaging of any mouse organ. The gain in sensitivity was achieved through the optimization of the filling factor by tightly fitting the cover-slip while maintaining a homogeneous rf B1 field coverage within the FOV of the tissue section of interest. Several mouse organs were examined spanning from the olfactory bulb to the liver, one of the largest organ while testing the sensitivity limits achievable at 7-Tesla. Our results show that sensitivy achieved can enable MRI section as low as 10-um thickness when immersed in 5mM doped buffer acquired during eight hours.