Vulnerable plaque at the carotid artery is an atherosclerotic lesion that poses an increased risk for a thromboembolic event causing ischemia in the brain. Rupture of carotid plaque is the leading cause of strokes. The long-term goal of this research is to enable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to be used as a comprehensive diagnostic tool to examine the neurovasculature of the entire head and neck. The widely used carotid phased array coil design developed in 1993 is obsolete. It necessitates an unacceptably long exam time to obtain the needed images. This project will develop hardware to increase both the image quality and the temporal resolution of MR imaging of the head and neck. The new hardware includes a multichannel phased array that covers the full field of view from the aortic arch to top of the head with superior signal-to-noise performance and includes coil elements optimized for high resolution imaging of the carotid bifurcation. These improvements will permit MRI characterization of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque in the carotid arteries to be integrated into a high-performance screening technique that can be achieved in a clinically acceptable examination time. MRI may prove to be useful for two critical applications: 1) detection of patients with vulnerable plaques to permit early, appropriate intervention; and 2) monitoring changes in key plaque features in response to therapeutic intervention in clinical trials. The NIH has committed substantial funding to the research on vulnerable carotid plaque imaging. This proposed coil array will markedly increase the productivity and success of that endeavor.
The specific aims of this work are 1) to design a 32 coil element phased array with SENSE capability, 2) to develop a flexible coil package that promotes patient comfort and restrains motion, 3) to build a 3.0T and a 1.5T version of the array, and 4) to verify its SNR performance and SENSE reduction factors using phantoms and healthy volunteers.
