Inductively coupled rf coils for examinations of small animals and objects in standard whole-body MR scanners.

Inductively coupled solenoid coils fitting to objects in the size of mice or rats were developed to adapt modem whole-body MR scanners featuring sufficient gradient strength for animal examinations with high spatial resolution. Homogenous receiver characteristics is achievable over almost the whole inner region of the solenoid coils. The SNR can be increased by a factor 2 to 6 with the adapting coils for examinations using the head coil as connected receiver. Standard sequences on clinical 1.5 T scanners can be applied with adapted transmitter voltages. For example, a SNR value of about 30 is achievable in a mouse liver after 10 minutes measuring time using a 2-D spin echo imaging sequence and a size of 0.3 x 0.3 x 0.8 mm3 for the picture elements.