PHASED-ARRAY DETECTORS AND AN AUTOMATED INTENSITY-CORRECTION ALGORITHM FOR HIGH-RESOLUTION MR-IMAGING OF THE HUMAN BRAIN

Two- and four-coil phased array detectors were developed to increase t he sensitivity and resolution of MR imaging of the human brain cortex, especially for detecting cortical dysplasias in pediatric epilepsy pa tients, An automated intensity correction algorithm based on an edge-c ompleted, low-pass filtered image was used to correct the image intens ity for the inhomogenous reception profile of the coils, Seven phased array coils were constructed and tested, The sensitivity of these coil s was up to 600% higher at the surface of the cortex than that achieve d with a conventional head coil and up to 30% greater at the center of the head. The sensitivity obtained was comparable with that of a conv entional small surface coil, but extended over the larger dimensions o f the array and previously inaccessible areas such as the top of the h ead, The advantages of the improved sensitivity are demonstrated with high resolution images of the brain.