Researchers at the University of Houston have developed a high-temperature superconducting coil that can either produce higher-resolution MR images or acquire the images faster than conventional coils.
The 7-tesla MRI Cryo-probe is designed to increase the coil's signal-to-noise ratio by a factor of two to three to create higher-resolution images or shorter scan times.
Lead scientist Jarek Wosik, research professor in the university's department of electrical and computer engineering, said test results show the new coil reveals brain structures that conventional MRI coils cannot easily visualize.
So far, the superconducting coil has only been used on rats, but researchers believe the technology could be a boon for human imaging.
