Personalized RF Coil Array for MR Imaging Interventions
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Solution Overview
Problem
It is challenging to optimally place RF coils around the body during MR imaging-guided interventions to achieve a good signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and ensure access to the interventional field for physicians.
Innovation Solution
A personalized RF coil array is manufactured by acquiring diagnostic images, simulating RF electromagnetic field distribution, and computing the sizes, shapes, and positions of RF antennae to optimize SNR, with a substrate adapted to the patient's body shape, ensuring clear access paths and minimizing interference with surgical instruments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If RF coils are placed in close proximity to the patient's body to optimize signal-to-noise ratio, then imaging quality improves, but access to the interventional field for physicians deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The RF coil system is divided into multiple independent coil elements that can be selectively activated. The coil array is segmented into regions, with some coils positioned close to the body for high SNR imaging and other areas maintained clear for surgical access. This segmentation allows the system to achieve high imaging quality in specific regions without compromising surgical accessibility in other regions.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the coil array are designed with different properties - some coils are positioned in close proximity to the patient's body to maximize signal-to-noise ratio for imaging, while other regions are designed with gaps or reduced coil density to ensure clear access paths for physicians and surgical instruments. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by optimizing each region for its specific function.
2Measurement precision
If a personalized RF coil array is manufactured to optimize imaging quality, then signal-to-noise ratio improves, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
Patient-specific anatomical data and intervention plans are acquired and analyzed before the actual surgical procedure. Based on this preliminary information, the optimal configuration of the RF coil array is determined in advance, including coil positions, orientations, and activation patterns. This preliminary planning enables the manufacturing process to be precisely guided, reducing complexity by having all design decisions made before production begins.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses patient-specific anatomical parameters and intervention-related parameters to customize the RF coil array configuration. By varying parameters such as coil positions, orientations, and spacing based on individual patient data, the system achieves optimized imaging quality without requiring completely new manufacturing processes for each patient, thereby controlling manufacturing complexity.
3Measurement precision
If RF antennae are positioned to maximize signal acquisition from the interventional field, then imaging quality improves, but interference with surgical instruments increases
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful interference effect is extracted and identified through simulation, allowing the design to specifically address and mitigate this issue. The simulation process separates the analysis of signal acquisition optimization from the analysis of instrument interference, enabling the design to take out and resolve the interference problem while maintaining imaging quality.
Solution Approach 2:
Computational simulation acts as an intermediary between the RF coil design and surgical instrument operation. The simulation process models both the electromagnetic field distribution and the potential interference with surgical instruments, allowing the design to be optimized before actual use. This intermediary step enables the identification and resolution of interference issues without requiring physical trials that could compromise surgical safety.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables high-quality intra-operative MR imaging and improved access to the interventional field, ensuring high-quality MR images throughout the procedure while maintaining clear access for surgeons.
Implementation Method 1
The magnetic field produces different energy levels for the individual nuclear spins in dependence on the magnetic field strength which can be excited (spin resonance) by application of an electromagnetic alternating field (RF field) of defined frequency
Implementation Method 2
the interaction between magnetic fields and nuclear spins in order to form two-dimensional or three-dimensional images
Implementation Method 3
providing a substrate for accommodating RF antennae, the substrate being adapted to the shape of the patient's body, so that the RF antennae are placed firmly, in close proximity, and in a well-defined position on the patient's body
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
AI summary
The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a personalized RF coil array for MR imaging guided interventions. The method comprises the steps of: -acquiring diagnostic image data reflecting the anatomy of a portion of a patient's body (10); -planning an intervention on the basis of the diagnostic image data, wherein a field of the intervention within the patient's body (10) portion is determined; -arranging one or more RF antennae (11, 12, 13) on a substrate (19), which is adapted to the patient's anatomy, in such a manner that the signal-to-noise ratio of MR signal acquisition via the one or more RF antennae (11, 12, 13) from the field of the intervention is optimized. Moreover, the invention relates to a computer program and to a computer workstation.