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A Graessl

A Ruehle

W Renz

L Winter

H Pfeiffer

J Ruff

J Rieger

T Niendorf

WORKSHOP PRESENTATION Open Access
Sodium imaging of the heart at 7T: design,
evaluation and application of a four-channel
transmit/receive surface coil array
A Graessl1*, A Ruehle1, W Renz2, L Winter1, H Pfeiffer3, J Ruff2, J Rieger1, T Niendorf1,4
From 16th Annual SCMR Scientific Sessions
San Francisco, CA, USA. 31 January - 3 February 2013
Background
Insight of physiological processes and cellular metabolism
makes 23Na-MRI conceptually appealing as non-invasive
imaging discipline. Several studies report the applicability
of 23Na-MRI for the detection and assessment of acute
and chronic heart disease due to increased sodium con-
centration after myocardial infarctions. Bi-exponential
decay of the signal and a low SNR compared to 1H-MRI
makes 23Na-MRI unattractive for clinical use. With a high
SNR and fast imaging technologies ultrahigh field MRI
brings 23Na-MRI back into focus, asking for dedicated
radiofrequency (RF) technology.
Methods
The proposed four channel transceiver RF-coil tuned to
78.6 MHz consists of an anterior and a posterior section
(Fig 1), each containing two 210 x 140 mm rectangular
loop elements connected with a shared conductor. EMF
and SAR simulations were performed using CST Studio
Suite 2011 (CST AG, Darmstadt, Germany) together with
the voxel model Duke from the Virtual family (ITIS
Foundation, Zurich, Switzerland). In-vivo studies were
performed in healthy volunteers using a 7 T whole body
MRI system (Magnetom, Siemens, Erlangen, Germany).
The volunteers were positioned prone to reduce artifacts
due to respiratory motion. 23Na localizer imaging was
performed with untriggered gradient echo (2D FLASH)
imaging (FOV 320x380, TE=2,28 ms, TR=5,6 ms;
TA=1,32 min; matrix size 5x5x40 mm, averages 256).
Short axis images were acquired with a cardiac triggered
gradient echo (2D FLASH) sequence (FOV 282x379,
TE=2,24 ms, TR=200 ms; TA=11,23 min; matrix size
5,4x5,4x40 mm, averages 400) of the heart. For triggering
an acoustic cardiac gating device (easyACT, MRI.Tools
GmbH, Germany) was used.
Results
The reflection coefficient of each element was mea-
sured to be better than -18 dB, transmission coeffi-
cients were found to be below -16 dB. The SAR values
fell well within the limits provided by the IEC 60601-
2-33 for input power of 10W in normal mode. In vivo
studies yielded a rather uniform signal intensity across
the heart leading to adequate image quality. An intense
signal caused by the high 23Na-concentration of the
ribs was observed. The cardiac triggered acquisitions
showed a SNR of 38 in the blood-pool and 24 in the
septum resulting in a blood/myocardium contrast
of 3,3.
Conclusions
Our results demonstrate that 23Na-MRI of the heart is
feasible at 7.0 T. The proposed RF coil design yielded
adequate image quality within clinically acceptable scan
times for free breathing, cardiac triggered acquisitions.
Using an even larger number of TX/RX channels would
help to further boost SNR and spatial resolution
together with scan time shortening.
1Max-Delbrueck-Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
Graessl et al. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic
Resonance 2013, 15(Suppl 1):W14
http://www.jcmr-online.com/content/15/S1/W14
© 2013 Graessl et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Author details
1Max-Delbrueck-Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany. 2Siemens
Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany. 3Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB),
Berlin, Germany. 4Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), Charité
Campus Buch, Humboldt-University, Berlin, Germany.
Published: 30 January 2013
doi:10.1186/1532-429X-15-S1-W14
Cite this article as: Graessl et al.: Sodium imaging of the heart at 7T:
design, evaluation and application of a four-channel transmit/receive
surface coil array. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance 2013 15
(Suppl 1):W14.
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Figure 1 The coil housed in two modestly curved lightweight formers to conform to an average chest and back, shown on a mannequin.
Figure 2 23Na short axis view of the heart acquired with an cardiac
triggered 2D FLASH sequence.
Graessl et al. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic
Resonance 2013, 15(Suppl 1):W14
http://www.jcmr-online.com/content/15/S1/W14
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Sodium imaging of the heart at 7T: design, evaluation and application of a four-channel transmit/receive surface coil array

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