Abstract #0416

Massner J, Pruessmann K, De Zanche N

Wrist imaging demands very high resolution due to a large number of subtle structures in a small volume, thus calling for receiver ar-rays that fit the anatomy closely for highest SNR yield. To address issues like variable wrist size, handling and patient comfort we have developed a coil array that optimizes its SNR performance by adjusting to each individual wrist. Variable coil interaction was addressed mainly by preamplifier decoupling. However, the best SNR was obtained with moderate coupling in favor of preamplifier noise matching. Consistently excellent SNR efficiency is demonstrated by selected in vivo results from wrists of varying size.