Pediatric Radio Frequency Coil Development on Clinical and Research MR Scanners

Pediatric Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging techniques have been limited by the unavailability of specialized radio-frequency (RF) coils for pediatric imaging. Typically, MR coils are designed for general purpose adult imaging and lack the mechanical design, flexibility and high channel count needed for pediatric imaging. Furthermore, pediatric patients are often positioned decubitus or prone rather than supine. This makes coil positioning even more challenging and often results in images with low SNR and poor image quality. Many coils used in clinical practice have fixed dimensions that do not fit within the realm of "one-size fits all," especially for the huge variation found in the pediatric patient population.

MRI coil development and optimization is performed by MR manufacturers and in research laboratories across the world including the Imaging Research Center (IRC) of Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Medical Center (CCHMC). Coil development and refinement involves evaluating the new coils on inert phantoms and then imaging examinations performed on healthy participants and patients. The focus of this study protocol is to evaluate the design and performance of investigational coils on patients and healthy participants.