Parallel MRI Performance Evaluation of a Novel 32-Channel Fetal Array at 1.5T

Ye Li¹, Yong Pang¹, Daniel Vigneron¹, ², Orit Glenn¹, Duan Xu¹, Xiaoliang Zhang¹, ²

In this work, we aim to evaluate parallel imaging performance of a 32 channel fetal array for fetal MRI at 1.5T. The gradient-echo image intensity of each coil element was calculated based on electromagnetic field distribution of each element. GRAPPA reconstructed images with different acceleration factors were carried out by using PULSAR toolbox. We studied the proposed flexible 32-channel array and compared with a commercial available 8-channel torso array that is routinely used in clinical fetal imaging. Our results show that the proposed fetal array improves parallel imaging performance for fetal MRI in terms of Artifact Power (AP) and image intensity.