Development of a Stereotactic Radiosurgery Frame Adapter for a Multichannel MRI Coil

Abstract

<b><i>Background:</i></b> The usage of multichannel brain MRI coils, which have several advantages over single-channel brain coils used for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), requires a frame adapter device to fit the frames inside the multichannel brain coils. However, such a frame adapter has not been developed until now. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> to develop an SRS frame adapter for multichannel MRI coils and verify the geometrical accuracy and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the MR images obtained using multichannel MRI coils. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> We fabricated an SRS frame adapter for a 48-channel MRI coil using a three-dimensional (3D) printer. Furthermore, we obtained phantom and human-brain MR images with a 3.0 Tesla MRI scanner using multi- and single-channel coils. Computed tomography (CT) phantom images were also obtained as reference. We compared the coordinate errors of the multi- and single-channel coils to evaluate the geometrical accuracy. Two neurosurgeons measured the coordinates. In addition, we compared the SNR differences between multi- and single-channel coils using the T1- and T2-weighted brain images. <b><i>Results:</i></b> For the CT coordinate measurements, the correlation coefficient <i>r</i> = 1 and <i>p</i> < 0.001 with respect to the 3 axes (Δ<i>x</i>, Δ<i>y</i>, and Δ<i>z</i>) and 3D errors (Δ<i>r</i>) showed no interpersonal differences between the 2 neurosurgeons. The results obtained using the T1-weighted images showed that a multichannel coil had smaller coordinate errors in Δ<i>x</i>, Δ<i>y</i>, Δ<i>z</i>, and Δ<i>r</i> than that observed in case of a single-channel coil (<i>p</i> < 0.001). In case of the SNR measurements, most of the brain areas showed higher SNRs when using a multichannel coil compared with that observed when using a single-channel coil in the T1- and T2-weighted images. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Compared with single-channel coils, the use of multichannel MRI coils with a newly developed frame adapter is expected to ensure successful SRS treatments with improved geometrical accuracy and SNR.