Dynamic Multi-Coil Shimming of the Rat Brain at 11.7 Tesla

Christoph Juchem¹, Basavaraju G. Sanganahalli¹, Peter Herman¹, Peter B. Brown¹, Scott McIntyre¹, Terence W. Nixon¹, Robin A. de Graaf¹

The in vivo rat model is a work horse in neuroscientific and preclinical MR research, however, excellent magnetic field homogeneity is required for meaningful results. Dynamic multi-coil (DMC) shimming is shown to successfully minimize magnetic field distortions encountered in the rat brain at 11.7 Tesla. While EPI with static, third order spherical harmonic shimming suffers from signal loss and image deformation, the brain outline is preserved with DMC-shimmed EPI. The minimization of signal loss and the improvement of the spatial accuracy of EPI with DMC shimming are expected to critically benefit a wide range of preclinical and neuroscientific MR research.