Novel RF Coil Design for Parallel MRI of the Breast

This project will be focused on the testing of the performance of a new type of parallel RF coil system that allows for significantly higher signal to noise and imaging performance than currently available coil systems (estimated 3 times higher signal to noise and acceleration of imaging times by a factor of 8-16 times). The coil system which will be tested is a breast imaging coil designed for operation with a 3T GE DVMR imaging platform. The coils to be compared are designed with 8 channel, 16 channel and 32 channel coil arrays. With these systems, novel imaging techniques will be investigated to determine maximize acceptable spatial resolution (within a specific time window), and minimum acceptable temporal resolution (within a specific resolution limit). Additionally, the utility of these coils for performing spectroscopic analysis will be investigated. During the course of the project, new types of analysis techniques will be required to be developed to attempt to characterize multiple parameters in a single, or set of performance metrics. Sentinelle Medical will benefit from this project as they will be able to determine the performance of the coil systems and have objective evidence of relative coil performance under clinical conditions. Additionally, this will allow for an opportunity for Sentinelle to be able to collaborate with the research group at University of Western Ontario and allow for training of an MRI researcher through the internship.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Giles Santyr

Student:

Julie Tanguay

Partner:

Sentinelle Medical Inc.

Discipline:

Biochemistry / Molecular biology

Sector:

Medical devices

University:

Western University