Abstract #4369

Transmit-Only Receive-Only Operation of a Switch-Tuned 13C-1H Radiofrequency Coil for Improved in Vivo 13C Spectroscopy

Heeseung Lim¹, Kundan Thind¹, Francisco M. Martinez-Santiesteban¹, Timothy J. Scholl¹,²

¹Medical Biophysics, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada; ²Imaging Research Laboratories, Robarts Research Institute, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada

This work reports the integration of a ¹³C surface receive coil with a switched-tuned ¹³C-¹H birdcage RF coil to enable combined transmit-only receive-only (TORO) operation to improve sensitivity for in vivo ¹³C spectroscopy. The ¹³C-¹H birdcage coil is operated in ¹H mode as a transmit-receive (TR) volume coil for anatomical imaging. Those images are subsequently co-registered with chemical shift imaging data obtained from ¹³C TORO operation. The TORO combination produces four times higher ¹³C signal-to-noise ratio than the switched-tuned RF coil alone operating in TR mode.