Towards an Intraoral Coil Array Design for Dental MRI

Motivation: In dental diagnostics MRI provides an improved soft tissue contrast for endodontic, craniomaxillofacial and implant applications with better visibility of anatomical structures. Goal(s): An intraoral coil array is introduced for dental MRI to investigate feasibility, achievable signal gain and parallel acquisition performance. Approach: Coil element size, material, and shape properties are investigated with respect to image SNR. The array is adjusted to the dental anatomy on a 3D phantom to estimate the sensitivity and the g factor of parallel imaging. Results: Intraoral coil array improves SNR, spatial resolution and provides a homogenous B1 receive profile. It allows parallel imaging to minimize measurement time. Impact: Intraoral coil arrays can enhance MRI of small dental structures, required for endodontics, while increasing the spatial coverage in oral cavity. Compared to single-loop coils, a more homogeneous receive sensitivity can be achieved and parallel imaging becomes feasible.