Research focus
The overall objective of the project is to investigate theoretically and experimentally the benefit of parallel imaging for hyperpolarized nuclei. Parallel imaging is a means to accelerate the data collection. Acceleration techniques are essential for hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance in order to code a multi-dimensional space (spatial, spectral and temporal) in a short time. Parallel imaging is a means to achieve this, and can for hyperpolarized nuclear spins, in principle, be obtained at little or no signal-to-noise penalty.
However, hyperpolarized MR in typically performed at lower detection frequencies of 5-30 MHz, and therefore sample loading is difficult to achieve. Cryogenic, resistive or superconducting, coils are a means to achieve low electronic noise (high unloaded Q). This project aims at investigating different strategies, in theory and practice, for a human 13C head coil at 32 MHz (3 T) cooled to cryogenic temperatures, and experimentally demonstrate the performance in a large animal model, or possibly in patients. Number of coil elements, geometry and different decoupling strategies will be investigated.
The use of High Temperature Superconductors (HTS) and optimized RF receivers, e.g. at 32 MHz for 13C hyperpolarized nuclei, allow an SNR improvement of the acquired images. This project is related to the design, prototyping and evaluation of High Temperature Superconductor RF coils array configurations for a portable human 13C head coil and RF receiver architectures aiming to improve the SNR of the whole RF processing chain of hyperpolarized magnetic resonance applications.
Scientific output
Find Rafael's publications at DTU's online research database
ORBIT.
Funding
The project is funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark, Technology and Production Sciences as part of the project Highly Efficient Cryogenic Resonators for Magnetic Resonance and Dynamic Nuclear Polarisation (DFF – 4005-00531B) and DTU Elektro. The project is part of the HYPERMAG Center of Excellence funded by Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF124).
Supervisors
Professor Jan Ardenkjær-Larsen, Associate Professor Vitaliy Zhurbenko and Senior Research Jean-Claude Grivel.
Project Period
April 2017 - April 2020
(PhD project terminated by Rafael Baron in December 2018).