# ADVANCED NEXT GEENRATION RADIO FREQUENCY COILS FOR MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING

> **NIH NIH R44** · ADVANCED IMAGING RESEARCH, INC. · 2024 · $966,995

## Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a safe, non-ionizing diagnostic tool. The overall goal of this
project is to arrive very close to the ultimate intrinsic signal to noise ratio (UISNR) for a given MRI
magnet field strength by combining innovations in very advanced transceiver technology. In Phase I, a
high performance head RF coil receiver array will be prototyped and SNR performance compared to an
existing commercial product. Emphasis in Phase II will be towards Phase I coil optimization, mechanical
housing design followed by systematic phantom validation.
 MRI is the preferred method for examining soft tissue structures. However MRI signals are weak due
to the small difference in energy levels population of parallel and anti-parallel spins (~6ppm at 1.5T) that
contribute to the signal. Clinical MRI exams demand high resolution and/or fast scanning. Since SNR is
the main limitation on fulfilling these requirements, it is the most important parameter of MRI systems.
 MRI SNR can be increased by signal averaging at the expense of lengthy scan times. Pursuit of
higher SNR on one hand has resulted in a shift toward the use of higher static magnetic fields which is
expensive and has siting and safety issues. On the other hand, we are rapidly approaching limitations in
MRI systems with greater number of receiver channels.
 We propose novel innovations to optimize MRI SNR for a given magnet field strength. Generally SNR
can be increased by increasing the signal strength or by reducing noise. We propose novel combinations
to achieve maximum, near ultimate intrinsic MRI SNR by efficiently accomplishing both. The technology
proposed has broad applications within and outside of MRI. A successful project will improve the MR
image quality in shorter scan times thereby alleviating burden on high cost, high magnet field based MRI
systems. The work proposed is original.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10399405
- **Project number:** 5R44MH119843-03
- **Recipient organization:** ADVANCED IMAGING RESEARCH, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Ravi Srinivasan
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $966,995
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-01 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10399405

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10399405, ADVANCED NEXT GEENRATION RADIO FREQUENCY COILS FOR MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (5R44MH119843-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10399405. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*