MR-based conductivity imaging using multiple receiver coils

Purpose: To propose a signal combination method for MR-based tissue conductivity mapping using a standard clinical scanner with multiple receiver coils. Methods: The theory of the proposed method is presented with two practical approaches, a coil-specific approach and a subject-specific approach. Conductivity maps were reconstructed using the transceive phase of the combined signal. The sensitivities of the coefficients used for signal combination were analyzed and the method was compared with other signal combination methods. For validation, multiple receiver brain coils and multiple receiver breast coils were used in phantom, in vivo brain, and in vivo breast studies. Results: The variation among the conductivity estimates was <15% as determined by the coefficient sensitivity tests. Compared with other signal combination methods, the proposed method yielded fewer artifacts in the conductivity estimates. Conclusion: MR-based tissue conductivity mapping is feasible when using a standard clinical MR scanner with multiple receiver coils. The proposed method reduces systematic errors in phase-based conductivity mapping that can occur due to the inhomogeneous magnitude of the combined receive profile. Magn Reson Med 76:530–539, 2016.