Abstract #0826

Low 511keV-Attenuation Array Coil Setup for Simultaneous PET/MR Imaging of the Monkey Brain

Christin Y. Sander¹,², Avilash Cramer¹, Boris Keil¹, Azma Mareyam¹, Bruce R. Rosen¹,³, Lawrence L. Wald¹,³

¹A. A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States; ²Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States; ³Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard-MIT, Cambridge, MA, United States

Simultaneous PET/MR imaging of non-human primates is challenging due to the lack of dedicated coils that are needed to target smaller brain volumes and allow for increased resolution without a loss in sensitivity. Moreover, the attenuation properties of coils are an important design parameter to ensure PET imaging with minimal artifacts. In this study, we developed two monkey coils of different sizes that minimized 511 keV attenuation and showed superior sensitivity and acceleration compared to the alternative use of a human head coil.