Dual-Tuned Magnetic Metasurface for Field Enhancement in <sup>1</sup>H and <sup>23</sup>Na 1.5 T MRI

In this paper, we present a novel passive dual-tuned magnetic metasurface, which can enhance the field distribution produced by a closely placed radio-frequency coil for both <sup>1</sup>H and <sup>23</sup>Na 1.5 T MRI imaging. In particular, the proposed solution comprises a...

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Main Authors: Sabrina Rotundo, Valeria Lazzoni, Alessandro Dellabate, Danilo Brizi, Agostino Monorchio
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Applied Sciences
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/11/5958
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author Sabrina Rotundo
Valeria Lazzoni
Alessandro Dellabate
Danilo Brizi
Agostino Monorchio
author_facet Sabrina Rotundo
Valeria Lazzoni
Alessandro Dellabate
Danilo Brizi
Agostino Monorchio
author_sort Sabrina Rotundo
collection DOAJ
description In this paper, we present a novel passive dual-tuned magnetic metasurface, which can enhance the field distribution produced by a closely placed radio-frequency coil for both <sup>1</sup>H and <sup>23</sup>Na 1.5 T MRI imaging. In particular, the proposed solution comprises a 5 × 5 capacitively loaded array, in which each unit-cell is composed of two concentric spiral coils. Specifically, the unit-cell internal spiral coil operates at the proton Larmor frequency (64 MHz), whereas the external is at the sodium one (17 MHz). Therefore, the paper aims to demonstrate the possibility of enhancing the magnetic field distribution in transmission and reception for 1.5 T MRI scanners by using the same metasurface configuration for imaging both nuclei, thus drastically simplifying the required instrumentation. We first describe the theoretical model used to design and synthetize the dual-tuned magnetic metasurface. Next, full-wave simulations are carried out to validate the approach. Finally, we report the experimental results acquired by testing the fabricated prototype at the workbench, observing a good agreement with the theoretical design and the numerical simulations. In particular, the metasurface increases the transmission efficiency <i>T<sub>x</sub></i> in presence of a biological phantom by a factor 3.5 at 17 MHz and by a factor 5 at 64 MHz, respectively. The proposed solution can pave the way for MRI multi-nuclei diagnostic technique with better images quality, simultaneously reducing the scanning time, the invasiveness on the patient and the overall costs.
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spelling doaj-art-2f159c08772f453d91161ea985f3337e2025-08-20T02:23:00ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-05-011511595810.3390/app15115958Dual-Tuned Magnetic Metasurface for Field Enhancement in <sup>1</sup>H and <sup>23</sup>Na 1.5 T MRISabrina Rotundo0Valeria Lazzoni1Alessandro Dellabate2Danilo Brizi3Agostino Monorchio4Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, 56122 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, 56122 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, 56122 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, 56122 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, 56122 Pisa, ItalyIn this paper, we present a novel passive dual-tuned magnetic metasurface, which can enhance the field distribution produced by a closely placed radio-frequency coil for both <sup>1</sup>H and <sup>23</sup>Na 1.5 T MRI imaging. In particular, the proposed solution comprises a 5 × 5 capacitively loaded array, in which each unit-cell is composed of two concentric spiral coils. Specifically, the unit-cell internal spiral coil operates at the proton Larmor frequency (64 MHz), whereas the external is at the sodium one (17 MHz). Therefore, the paper aims to demonstrate the possibility of enhancing the magnetic field distribution in transmission and reception for 1.5 T MRI scanners by using the same metasurface configuration for imaging both nuclei, thus drastically simplifying the required instrumentation. We first describe the theoretical model used to design and synthetize the dual-tuned magnetic metasurface. Next, full-wave simulations are carried out to validate the approach. Finally, we report the experimental results acquired by testing the fabricated prototype at the workbench, observing a good agreement with the theoretical design and the numerical simulations. In particular, the metasurface increases the transmission efficiency <i>T<sub>x</sub></i> in presence of a biological phantom by a factor 3.5 at 17 MHz and by a factor 5 at 64 MHz, respectively. The proposed solution can pave the way for MRI multi-nuclei diagnostic technique with better images quality, simultaneously reducing the scanning time, the invasiveness on the patient and the overall costs.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/11/5958magnetic metasurfacemagnetic resonance imagingmulti-nuclei imagingsignal-to-noisetransmission efficiency
spellingShingle Sabrina Rotundo
Valeria Lazzoni
Alessandro Dellabate
Danilo Brizi
Agostino Monorchio
Dual-Tuned Magnetic Metasurface for Field Enhancement in <sup>1</sup>H and <sup>23</sup>Na 1.5 T MRI
Applied Sciences
magnetic metasurface
magnetic resonance imaging
multi-nuclei imaging
signal-to-noise
transmission efficiency
title Dual-Tuned Magnetic Metasurface for Field Enhancement in <sup>1</sup>H and <sup>23</sup>Na 1.5 T MRI
title_full Dual-Tuned Magnetic Metasurface for Field Enhancement in <sup>1</sup>H and <sup>23</sup>Na 1.5 T MRI
title_fullStr Dual-Tuned Magnetic Metasurface for Field Enhancement in <sup>1</sup>H and <sup>23</sup>Na 1.5 T MRI
title_full_unstemmed Dual-Tuned Magnetic Metasurface for Field Enhancement in <sup>1</sup>H and <sup>23</sup>Na 1.5 T MRI
title_short Dual-Tuned Magnetic Metasurface for Field Enhancement in <sup>1</sup>H and <sup>23</sup>Na 1.5 T MRI
title_sort dual tuned magnetic metasurface for field enhancement in sup 1 sup h and sup 23 sup na 1 5 t mri
topic magnetic metasurface
magnetic resonance imaging
multi-nuclei imaging
signal-to-noise
transmission efficiency
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/11/5958
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