MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN MEDICINE, v.76, no.2, pp.530 - 539
Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL
Abstract
Purpose: To propose a signal combination method for MRbased
tissue conductivity mapping using a standard clinical
scanner with multiple receiver coils.
Methods: The theory of the proposed method is presented
with two practical approaches, a coil-specific approach and a
subject-specific approach. Conductivity maps were reconstructed
using the transceive phase of the combined signal.
The sensitivities of the coefficients used for signal combination
were analyzed and the method was compared with other signal
combination methods. For validation, multiple receiver
brain coils and multiple receiver breast coils were used in
phantom, in vivo brain, and in vivo breast studies.
Results: The variation among the conductivity estimates was
<15% as determined by the coefficient sensitivity tests. Compared
with other signal combination methods, the proposed
method yielded fewer artifacts in the conductivity estimates.
Conclusion: MR-based tissue conductivity mapping is feasible
when using a standard clinical MR scanner with multiple
receiver coils. The proposed method reduces systematic
errors in phase-based conductivity mapping that can occur
due to the inhomogeneous magnitude of the combined receive
profile. Magn Reson Med 000:000–000, 2015. VC 2015 Wiley
Periodicals, Inc.