Stripe sensor tomography and application to microcoil Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has undergone a multitude of innovations in the past decade. In conventional MRI, the major contribution to image resolution is the strength of the gradient magnetic fields used for frequency and phase encoding. A novel imaging technique, Stripe Sensor Tomography (SST), replaces 2-D electromagnetic radiation in obtaining the image by using a linear array sensor and angular scanning. SST can be applied to MRI where the array is used as the receiver antenna and magnetic field gradients are no longer required to acquire a MR image. SST image resolution is primarily determined by the inter-loop spacing of the linear array sensor. In the SST scale, Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) follows distinct criteria due to the proximity of wire size to electrical skin depth. The resistances due to neighboring wires affects SNR and in turn the resolution. The MRI resolution for SST is studied and compared to conventional MRI resolution and a crude model is derived. In summary, it is found that SST offers an imaging methodology less dependent on other parameters of the MRI experiment and circumvents many necessities required for imaging with radiation. It may well also present a better alternative for microcoil MRI imaging in the future.