Coil development for 7 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the prostate

Polpudenko, Aleksej (2025) Coil development for 7 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the prostate. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Prostate imaging performed on the contemporary 1.5-3 T clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems has proven to be of great benefit within the context of prostate cancer management. The use of multi-parametric MRI (mpMRI) aids the clinicians in identifying the biopsy sites and offers a non-invasive way of staging the disease and monitoring its progression. Given the clinically verified usefulness of prostate MRI on the current clinical systems, it is logical to ask if further benefits can be extracted by exploring prostate imaging on ultra-high-field (UHF) scanners. UHF systems boast main magnetic field strengths of ≥ 7T and offer a much higher potential signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The additional SNR can be traded for higher resolution anatomical images or faster acquisition times compared to the lower field strength scanners. Realising the SNR gain of higher field systems, however, requires an appropriately designed radiofrequency (RF) coil. A well-built MR body coil is the necessary precursor for an objective assessment of the clinical diagnostic utility of the higher field systems in the context of prostate imaging. The project sought to develop a coil for prostate imaging at 7T. As part of the project, multiple loop coil configurations were simulated and compared. A six-channel transmit-receive design was constructed, characterised and approved for use in healthy volunteers. Preliminary volunteer T2 and diffusion-weighted images were acquired, demonstrating promising results.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: The project was funded by UKRI and set up as part of the MRC DTP in precision medicine, a joint collaboration between the University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh.
• Subjects: R Medicine > RC Internal medicine; R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0254 Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology (including Cancer); T Technology > T Technology (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
• Supervisor's Name: Porter, Professor David, Leung, Professor Hing and Flegal, Dr. Kirstin
• Date of Award: 2025
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2025-85410
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 19 Aug 2025 09:16
• Last Modified: 22 Aug 2025 15:37
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.85410
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/85410