Design principles for insulated internal loopless MRI receivers

A theoretical analysis of insulated internal loopless MRI receivers is presented. Insulated loopless receivers are ideal for local, high resolution imaging of the vasculature and other internal organs. However, there are currently no analysis techniques or design principles for these devices. By using a Galerkin method of moments combined with an application of the volume equivalence theorem, we solve for the intrinsic SNR distribution of insulated loopless receivers. As insulation thickness is increased, the resonant antenna length increases while the noise resistance decreases. Both of these effects, when used together, can greatly improve the SNR magnitude and distribution of loopless receivers. Design principles outlined here will allow for optimization of loopless receivers for a variety of internal, high resolution imaging applications.