High-Resolution Microscopy Coil MR-Eye

Abstract

The eye is involved in several pathologies where precise identification of the underlying condition is essential for the optimal patient care. This preliminary report presents the potential of high-resolution microscopy coil magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI) to undertake this task being actively used in the clinical setting. We used a commercially available MRI scanner and a microscopy surface coil. Exquisite anatomic detail of the eye and orbit with depiction of previously unobserved structures and clear demonstration of the underlying pathology was achieved. This report supports the idea that orbital imaging can be revolutionized with the introduction of HR-MRI with broad clinical implications.

MR Imaging of Papilledema and Visual Pathways: Effects of Increased Intracranial Pressure and Pathophysiologic Mechanisms

“…Recent advances in MR imaging make it possible to more closely examine the interface between anatomic disruption and physiologic dysfunction. 36 [40][41][42][43][44] fMRI has been used in mapping the function of cortical regions in a variety of healthy and disease states involving vision. 45,46 In cases involving papilledema, fMRI of the visual pathway and particularly the retina may offer insight into the effect of papilledema on visual impairment.…”

High resolution MR eye protocol optimization: Comparison between 3D-CISS, 3D-PSIF and 3D-VIBE sequences

“…3.5 min) was developed. The scan sequences yield a voxel volume of 0.004 mm 3 and an ineplane resolution 0.08 mm 2 significantly better as compared with other studies using 1.5T systems [5,14,28,30,32,33] and comparable even with higher field systems (3e7T) [6,12,22,29].…”

“…Particularly, T1-weighted (T1w) images can provide better anatomical detail but the strong orbital fat signal can over-saturate smaller adjacent structures [5,6,29,31]. T2-weighting can improve visualization of the inner surface of the globe, because of the bright vitreous signal, but is vulnerable to motion artifacts, H 0 artifacts and has lower SNR [22,31,32].…”

“…New MRI methodologies, such as the use of specialized orbital coils [6,10,12,13,32,33] in combination with paramagnetic contrast agents for image enhancement [1,2,5,27,34], have been reported in MRI of the eye. Orbital coils improve the SNR in the region of interest in the eye and thus provide higher spatial resolution which allows depiction of more of the fine details of eye anatomy.…”

Ocular MR Imaging: Evaluation of Different Coil Setups in a Phantom Study

“…8 The use of small coils is recommended for ocular MR imaging. 9 A head coil can also be used to examine orbital content and has been found useful for comparing structures in the 2 orbits. 10,11 Previous studies indicated that use of the appropriate coil is decisive in the success of orbital MR imaging.…”