Evaluation of multicoil breast arrays for parallel imaging

Abstract

To evaluate three multicoil breast arrays for both conventional and SENSE‐accelerated imaging. Two commercially available 8‐element coils and a prototype 16‐element coil were compared. One 8‐element array had adjustable coils located next to the breast tissue and the other had a fixed coil arrangement; both were designed to allow parallel imaging in the left–right direction. The 16‐element coil was designed to have coil sensitivity variation in both the left–right and superior–inferior directions, and also had adjustable coils. Their performance was assessed in terms of signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR), g‐factor, and uniformity with a custom‐built phantom. The 16‐element array with adjustable coils provided the highest SNR, while the 8‐element coil with a fixed coil arrangement had the best uniformity. All coils performed well for SENSE acceleration in the left–right direction. The 8‐element coils did not have the capability for acceleration in the superior–inferior direction across the whole volume. The 16‐element coil enabled acceleration in the superior–inferior direction in addition to the left–right direction. Smaller, adjustable coil elements located next to breast tissue can provide greater SNR than larger, fixed coil elements. A multicoil breast array with high intrinsic SNR and low g‐factors enables high‐quality parallel imaging. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2010; 31: 328–338.