Abstract #1079

Fast High Resolution Imaging of the Mouse Brain Using a Cryogenic 2x2 Phased Array Coil at 9.4T

Aline Seuwen¹, Daniel Marek², Stefan Zwick², Aileen Schrter³, Markus Rudin³,⁴

¹Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH , Zrich, Switzerland; ²Bruker BioSpin AG, Fllanden, Switzerland; ³Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH, Zrich, Switzerland; ⁴Institute of pharmacology and toxicology, University of Zrich, Switzerland

First in vivo results of a four-element receive-only cryogenic phased array surface coil operating at 30K (2x2 geometry, overall coil size 20x27mm2) are presented. The coil system was used in combination with a room temperature volume resonator for transmission. FLASH and RARE sequences were applied for fast 2D and 3D high-resolution imaging. The phased array design allows accelerated data acquisition using parallel imaging strategies. Furthermore, the high sensitivity and uniform excitation enable whole brain imaging with high resolution. The setup is also attractive for functional MRI and spectroscopic imaging, which critically depend on high SNR values.