Silicone‐based materials with tailored MR relaxation characteristics for use in reduced coil visibility and in tissue‐mimicking phantom design

作者：Elizaveta Motovilova, Eric Aronowitz, Jana Vincent, James Shin, Ek T. Tan, Fraser Robb, Victor Taracila, Darryl B. Sneag, Jonathan P. Dyke, Simone Winkler · 发表于：Medical Physics · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1002/mp.16255 · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Advanced MRI Techniques and Applications、Lanthanide and Transition Metal Complexes、MRI in cancer diagnosis

Abstract Background The development of materials with tailored signal intensity in MR imaging is critically important both for the reduction of signal from non‐tissue hardware, as well as for the construction of tissue‐mimicking phantoms. Silicone‐based phantoms are becoming more popular due to their structural stability, stretchability, longer shelf life, and ease of handling, as well as for their application in dynamic imaging of physiology in motion. Moreover, silicone can be also used for the design of stretchable receive radio‐frequency (RF) coils. Purpose Fabrication of materials with tailored signal intensity for MRI requires knowledge of precise T 1 and T 2 relaxation times of the materials used. In order to increase the range of possible relaxation times, silicone materials can be doped with gadolinium (Gd). In this work, we aim to systematically evaluate relaxation properties of Gd‐doped silicone material at a broad range of Gd concentrations and at three clinically relevant magnetic field strengths (1.5 T, 3 T, and 7 T). We apply the findings for rendering silicone substrates of stretchable receive RF coils less visible in MRI. Moreover, we demonstrate early stage proof‐of‐concept applicability in tissue‐mimicking phantom development. Materials and Methods Ten samples of pure and Gd‐doped Ecoflex silicone polymer samples were prepared with various Gd volume ratios ranging from 1:5000 to 1:10, and studied using 1.5 T and 3 T clinical and 7 T preclinical scanners. T ...