Development of a Novel Head Coil for Clinical Neuroimaging in 7 Tesla MRI Scanners

** 磁共振成像 **（**MRI**）是诊断影响大脑的医疗条件的强大工具。目前使用的标准MRI扫描仪的磁场强度为1.5特斯拉（1.5T）或3特斯拉（3T）。最新的进展已经导致扫描仪具有7特斯拉（7T）的磁场强度，这提供了更高层次的细节图像。这些系统现已在欧洲和美国获得医疗用途的批准。该项目涉及新技术的商业开发，该技术将提高这些新的7T扫描仪的性能。神经系统疾病，包括脑肿瘤、癫痫、多发性硬化症、运动神经元和血管疾病，将从7T MRI的引入中大大受益。这有望改善诊断，帮助临床医生提供更有针对性、个性化和有效的治疗。尽管有这种潜力，但由于难以获得大面积解剖结构（如整个大脑）的均匀图像，7T MRI在临床应用中的引入受到阻碍。这是由7T下较短的射频波长引起的基本限制。并行发射（pTx）技术提供了克服这一问题并产生均匀图像的方法。该项目基于格拉斯哥大学的一个现有研究项目，该项目开发了一种用于7T脑部MRI的新型头部线圈原型。新的线圈采用pTx技术，提高了图像的均匀性，并提供了更好的大脑区域的可视化，这是重要的癫痫，MS和血管疾病的管理。此外，开放式设计提高了患者的舒适度，并最大限度地减少了幽闭恐惧症。紧凑的设计便于操作员操作，并节省了扫描床的空间。现代7T MRI扫描仪有两种工作模式：技术先进的pTx模式和传统的单发射（sTx）模式。新线圈设计用于两种模式，而目前需要单独的线圈。这种双模式功能避免了对两个线圈的需求，这对消费者来说是一个相当大的成本节省，并且具有时间效率。我们的目标是将原型头部线圈转化为适合临床诊断使用的医疗设备。该过程的第一阶段是通过ISO 13485质量管理体系开发新的头部线圈，并获得相应的认证。本项目将使用计算机建模、体模研究和健康志愿者成像证明器械的性能和安全性，为临床环境中的后续评价做准备。

**Magnetic resonance imaging** (**MRI**) is a powerful tool for diagnosing medical conditions that affect the brain. Standard MRI scanners in current use have a magnetic-field strength of 1.5 tesla (1.5T) or 3 tesla (3T). Recent advances have led to scanners with a magnetic-field strength of 7 tesla (7T), which provide images with an increased level of detail. These systems now have approval for medical use in Europe and the USA. This project concerns the commercial development of new technology that will enhance the performance of these new 7T scanners.Neurological conditions, including brain tumours, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, motor neurone and vascular disease will significantly benefit from the introduction of 7T MRI. This promises to improve diagnosis and help clinicians to deliver more targeted, personalised and effective treatments. Despite this potential, the introduction of 7T MRI into clinical use has been impeded by the difficulty to acquire uniform images of a large area of anatomy, such as the whole brain. This is a fundamental limitation caused by the shorter radiofrequency wavelength at 7T. Parallel transmit (pTx) technology provides the means to overcome this problem and produce uniform images.The project is based on an existing research project at the University of Glasgow, which has resulted in the development of a prototype of a novel head coil for MRI of the brain at 7T. The new coil incorporates pTx technology, which improves image uniformity and offers better visualisation of brain regions that are important in the management of epilepsy, MS and vascular disease. Furthermore, an open-face design improves patient comfort and minimises claustrophobia. The compact design is operator friendly and saves space on the patient table.Modern 7T MRI scanners operate in two modes: a technologically advanced pTx mode, and a conventional single-transmit (sTx) mode. The new coil is designed to be used in both modes, whereas separate coils are currently required. This dual-mode feature prevents the need for two coils, which is a considerable cost saving to the consumer and is time-efficient.Our goal is to translate the prototype head coil into a medical device suitable for clinical diagnostic use. The first stage in this process is to develop the new head coil through ISO 13485 quality management systems and achieve corresponding certification. This project will demonstrate performance and safety of the device using computer modelling, phantom studies and healthy volunteer imaging to prepare for subsequent evaluation in a clinical setting.