Integrated CMOS receiver for wearable coil arrays in MRI applications

Surface coil arrays brought in proximity of the human body enhance the performance of an MRI measurement both in speed and signal-to-noise ratio. However, size and cabling of such arrays can deteriorate the performance of the imaging, or put at risk the safety of the patient. An integrated CMOS direct conversion receiver is proposed, to be placed directly onto the receive coil and enhance the usability. The integrated design needs to preserve the high performance (both in silent noise figure and dynamic range) of discrete solutions, which benefit from dedicated technologies for every receiver sub-block. To exploit the full potential of a coil array, the receiver on each module must also minimize the coupling to nearby modules. The PCB carrying the ASIC will be fabricated with flexible substrate materials to further enhance the wearability and comfort for the patient. Such a modular approach together with the transmission of data over optical fibers results in a lightweight system that allows us to achieve fast development times.