Analog optical wireless MRI: Proof-of-concept for RF signal transfer and system transparency

Motivation: Wireless RF coils are targeted in past and on-going research, however none of the technologies investigated led to a large-scale breakthrough so far. Goal(s): To investigate the feasibility of analog optical wireless signal transfer as alternative to digital-GHz-wireless approaches. Approach: A receive-only surface coil was connected to a 3T MR scanner using analog optical freespace communication. Passing an on-coil preamplifier, the MR signal directly modulates a laser, transmitting it onto an optical receiver, and is then fed to the conventional RF receive chain of the MR scanner. Results: MRI was successfully performed with optical wireless analog signal transfer. Impact: This work successfully demonstrates the feasibility of analog optical wireless MRI. Signal transfer from a receive-only RF coil to the image processing unit of a 3T MR scanner was implemented and resulted in artifact-free images.