This project involves the implementation of high temperature superconducting surface coils for use at 2 T. The main technical challenge of the project is to develop a probe which will regulate the temperature of the coils at 77 K, using liquid nitrogen as the coolant. The probe will be used to determine the effect of high Q surface coils on the signal-to-noise ratio in NMR microscopy, as well as determining what the effect of the magnetic field is on the physical characteristics of the high temperature superconducting films. The biological focus of the project is to explore the effect of field strength on contrast mechanisms. Specifically, the higher signal-to-noise ratio expected from the HTS surface coils will be utilized to image tissue samples from small animals, with the goal of demonstrating improved contrast differentiation at low field strength coupled with reduced imaging times.
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