The Living Laboratory

The ultra-high field 7 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging (7T MRI) scanner at the Imaging Centre of Excellence (ICE) has upgraded to the new, optimal 64 channel receive system. This upgrade enables scanning of the human brain in even greater resolution than before at a much faster processing speed, producing high-resolution medical images that will advance research and increase the diagnostic capabilities of the technology. 

The Imaging Centre of Excellence was the first location in the UK to house an ultra-high field 7 Tesla MRI scanner in a clinical setting. At the time of installation in 2017, the scanner had the standard 32 channel receive system but as technology has continued to advance, the upgraded version with 64 receive channels is now the most powerful system available.   

Receive channels detect the MRI radiofrequency signal so it can be transformed into an image. Increasing the number of independent channels improves the image quality and allows parallel imaging techniques to be employed, increasing the overall speed of this process. This important upgrade ensures the 7T MRI scanner in ICE is functioning at the optimal level to continue to generate highly detailed medical images.  

7T MRI is one of the most powerful medical imaging technologies, offering an opportunity for researchers to gain a greater understanding of disease and work towards helping to diagnose and treat patients quickly, and more effectively. Since its installation, the 7T system in ICE has been used extensively to study high-level detail of the brain across neuroscience research. Its location at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital offers the opportunity for clinicians and researchers to extend its use and bring precision medicine innovations closer to patients. 

The Living Laboratory’s Coil Development project is central to achieving this. Designing, manufacturing and clinically evaluating specialised radiofrequency (RF) coils, this project is developing a series of body-part-specific RF coils to extend the use of 7T as a diagnostic tool to more parts of the body than currently possible.  

The Coil Development project has recently accelerated the advancement of RF head coil design, successfully delivering a new 7T head coil to be commercialised by project partner MR CoilTech. The new product prototype has 64-channel receive capability and will be the first of its kind available in the UK and Europe. The coil will begin immediate testing in the newly upgraded 7T MRI to review its benefit for producing higher-quality images than standard product options. This exciting advancement will create opportunity for even greater resolution brain scanning, supporting researchers to learn more about brain conditions such as stroke, vascular dementia, brain tumours, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease in greater detail than previously possible. 

This successful head coil product prototype is the first in a series of coils that will increase the scanning capabilities of 7T to body regions beyond the brain. The Coil Development project is also removing barriers to commercialisation, creating roadmaps to open these novel RF coils to market and the new head coil product prototype will be the first to advance further in the commercialisation phase. This exciting advancement will open the design to market, enabling the widespread use of the new head coil initially for research before, eventually, leading to their availability as a diagnostic tool.  

Dr Shajan Gunamony, Director of MR CoilTech and Head of MRI RF Engineering at the University of Glasgow said: “We are delighted that the new head coil product prototype is now in the final stages of evaluation and will soon be available to market. Creating the opportunity for the head coil to be widely available will allow more researchers to study brain images at an exceptionally high-resolution, advancing research of the brain and perhaps leading to new ways to diagnose or treat patients.” 

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First published: 29 June 2022