자기공명미세영상 및 분광법을 위한 나선형 RF 표면코일의 감는 횟수에 따른 민감도 평가 = Sensitivity Assessment of Spiral RF Surface Coils for MR Microscopic Imaging and Spectroscopy

국문 초록 (Abstract)

본 연구의 목적은 고해상도 미세영상을 얻을 수 있는 기술을 확보하기 위하여 나선형 multi-turned RF 표면코일(surface coil)의 민감도(sensitivity)를 평가하고자 하였다. RF 코일의 자기장 분포를 시뮬레이션 함으로서 자기장의 불균질성 (inhomogeniety)을 조사하고, 그 결과를 토대로 개선된 RF 코일을 디자인할 수 있다. 1, 3, 5번씩 감은 나선형 코일을 조사 한 결과, 3번 감은 나선형 코일의 민감도가 가장 높은 것으로 나타났다. 이를 통하여 나선형 RF 코일의 감는 횟수를 조절함으로써 코일의 민감도를 향상시킬 수 있다는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 그리고 지나치게 감는 횟수를 늘리면 오히려 코일의 impedance를 증가시키게 되어 민감도를 감소시키며, 동시에 matching이 어려워진다는 사실을 확인하였다. 본 연구의 결과로서 지름이 4 cm인 나선형 wire RF 표면코일의 최적의 감는 횟수를 발견하였다. 또한 나선형 표면코일에서 감는 횟수의 증가는 항상 민감도에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것이 아니며, 반드시 최적의 감는 횟수를 찾아야 한다는 것을 확인하였다.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study was to improve the technique so as to develop an advanced sensitive RF surface coil for investigating the sensitivities of the multi-spiral surface coils, and we eventually wanted to achieve high resolution of the microscopic MR images and MR spectra. The magnetic field inhomogeneity and shape of a surface coil were statistically estimated by simulation of the magnetic field distribution. On the basis of the experimental results with single, 3 and S-turned spiral RF surface coils, we found that the 3-turned coil had the highest sensitivity. The present study showed that the sensitivity of the RF surface coil was improved by increasing the number of spiral coil turns, and also the SNR of the RF surface coil was dependent upon the number of spiral coil turns. However, we found, rather strikingly, that the sensitivity of excessive turns of the coils was decreased due to the rise of the coil's Impedance. Thus, the present results demonstrated that the sensitivity was not proportional to the number of a spiral RF coil's turns, and the number of spiral coil turns should be optimized for obtaining the highest sensitivity and SNR.

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