Ultrasound-Transparent RF Coil Design for Improved MR Thermometry of HIFU Therapy

Max Oskar Khler¹, Matti Tillander¹, Antti Syrj¹, Risto Nakari¹, Mika Ylihautala¹

A novel RF coil design for MR-HIFU therapy is presented that enables placing coil elements within the acoustic field without the coil interfering with the HIFU beam. The coil design furthermore allows HIFU beam propagation through the coil elements without causing imaging artifacts in the MR thermometry commonly used for therapy monitoring. This coil design allows a larger acoustic window and improved transducer access while maintaining or improving image quality. The additional coil element(s) also enable acceleration factors for MR thermometry that would otherwise not be possible. Coil performance is evaluated by acoustic field measurements and MR thermometry experiments.