CRYOGENICALLY COOLED SUPERCONDUCTOR RF HEAD COIL ARRAY AND HEAD-ONLY MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI) SYSTEM USING SAME

摘要

A cryogenically-cooled superconducting RF head-coil array which may be used in whole-body MRI scanners and/or in dedicated, head-only MRI systems. An RF head-coil array module may comprise a vacuum thermal isolation housing comprising a double wall hermetically sealed jacket that (i) encloses a hermetically sealed interior space under a vacuum condition, and (ii) substantially encloses an interior chamber region that is separate from the hermetically sealed interior space and is configured to be evacuated to a vacuum condition. A plurality of superconductor radiofrequency coils are disposed in the interior chamber region, and each radiofrequency coil is configured for at least one of generating and receiving a radiofrequency signal for at least one of magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy. At least one thermal sink member may be disposed in the interior chamber region and in thermal contact with the superconductor radiofrequency coils. A port is configured for cryogenically cooling the thermal sink members.