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Background: We aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of generating high-resolution human brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 5 Tesla (T) using a quadrature birdcage transmit/48-channel receiver coil assembly.Methods: A quadrature birdcage transmit/48-channel receiver coil assembly was designed for human brain imaging at 5T. The radio frequency (RF) coil assembly was validated by electromagnetic (EM) simulations and phantom imaging experimental studies. The simulated B1+ field inside a human head phantom and inside a human head model generated by the birdcage coils driven in circularly polarized (CP) mode at 3T, 5T and 7T was compared. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) maps, the inverse g-factor maps for evaluation of parallel imaging performance, anatomic images, angiography images, vessel wall images and susceptibility weighted images (SWI) were acquired using the RF coil assembly at 5T and compared to those acquired using a 32-channel head coil on a 3T MRI scanner.Results: For the EM simulations, 5T MRI provided less RF inhomogeneity compared to that of 7T. In the phantom imaging study, the distributions of the measured B1+ field were consistent with the distributions of the simulated B1+ field. In the human brain imaging study, the average SNR value of the brain in the transversal plane at 5T was 1.6 times of that at 3T. The 48-channel head coil at 5T had higher parallel acceleration capability than the 32-channel head coil at 3T. The anatomic images at 5T also showed higher SNR than those at 3T. Improved delineation of the hippocampus, lenticulostriate arteries, and basilar arteries was observed at 5T compared to 3T. SWI with a higher resolution of 0.3 mm × 0.3 mm × 1.2 mm could be acquired at 5T, which enabled better visualization of small blood vessels compared to that at 3T. Conclusions: 5T MRI can provide significant SNR improvement compared to that of 3T with less RF inhomogeneity than that of 7T. The ability to obtain high quality in vivo human brain images at 5T using the quadrature birdcage transmit/48-channel receiver coil assembly has significant in clinical and scientific research applications.

In this study, a 5.0T whole body MR imaging system was used for the evaluation of moyamoya disease (MMD). Diagnostic performance of time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (TOF-MRA) and susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) were evaluated and compared between the 5T MRI scanner and a clinical 3T MRI scanner in three MMD patients. Preliminary results show that 5 T MRI might be superior to 3T MRI for the visualization of small collateral branches and micro bleeding points.

Large field-of-view imaging of spine in ultra-high field 5.0T magnetic resonance imaging system is achieved with RF hardware design of an 8-channel volume transmit coil and a dedicated posterior spine array of 48 receive channels. The axial coverage and transmit homogeneity allow the use of refocusing pulses under specific-absorption ratio limits by safety regulations. Consequent high-resolution fast spin echo clinical images are acquired and compared with results on a commercial 3.0T scanner.