Traditionally, improved signal quality for magnetic resonance imaging has been achieved by increasing the magnetic field strength of the MRI system.
This approach has a number of drawbacks including increased radio frequency (RF) energy deposition in the patient, higher cost, and reduced RF field homogeneity. In the worst case, higher energy deposition coupled with reduced field homogeneity can cause burns in the patient as a result of local area energy focusing. Also, reduced field homogeneity causes poorer images and high field operation limits the number of safe pulse sequences available for imaging.
The uniqueness of the present technology is that the imaging coil system is tailored to specific parts of the body. As compared to their higher field circular counterparts, these spatially tailored RF coils have comparable RF field homogeneity, improved sensitivity as well as signal-to-noise ratio with the cost benefits of a lower RF power output. These attributes combine to give the higher image resolution characteristic of a more powerful magnetic field. Therefore, improved performance can be achieved by means other than the costly and potentially dangerous approach of increasing field strength.