Folded crossed-ellipse coil for hand magnetic resonance imaging

We developed an ellipse-shaped surface coil for magnetic resonance imaging for a 1.5 T clinical MR Imager. This coil layout was folded over to cover the hand. Standard volume and single-loop coils provide a poor signal because they can not be placed close to the region of interest and their shapes do not fit the anatomy of human extremities. The coil design proposed in this paper has a more anatomical shape which allows to be placed closer to the region of interest. A higher signal-to-noise ratio can then be achieved resulting in better-quality image. Phantom images and hand images of a healthy volunteer were acquired to show viability. A 1.5 T clinical scanner (Signa LX equipped with V. 5.8, General Electric Medical System) together with standard spin-echo sequences were used to perform all the imaging experiments. This simple coil design can generate high-resolution hand images with fast spin echo sequences. The coil prototype is fully compatible with clinical scanners and standard imaging sequences.