Manushka V. Vaidya1,2,3, Gillian G. Haemer1,2,3, Christopher M. Collins1,2,3, Gang Chen1,2,3, Giuseppe Carluccio1,2, Mary Bruno1,2, Graham C. Wiggins1,2, Daniel K. Sodickson1,2,3, and Riccardo Lattanzi1,2,3
1Center for Advanced Imaging Innovation and Research (CAI2R), Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States, 2Bernard and Irene Schwartz Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States, 3Sackler Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
A standard head-coil may not be sufficient to
examine regions inferior to the base of the skull. Previous work demonstrates
that the field-of-view of a surface coil can be extended using high
permittivity materials (HPM). In this work, we use calcium titanate bags to
extend the sensitivity of a commercial head-coil, and demonstrate an increase
in the signal-to-noise ratio in the neck muscles, brainstem and superior
regions of the spinal cord and cervical vertebrae. Our results indicate that
extending the sensitivity of any commercial coil may be possible using
appropriately positioned HPMs.
