An Improved Intraoral Transverse Loop Coil Design for High Resolution Dental MRI

MRI can simultaneously image soft and hard tissues such as glands, teeth, gum, nerves and bone, thus could be valuable for diagnosis of dental pathologies and implant planning. Intraoral coils have been proved essential to dental MRI due to superior sensitivity compared to external coils. In this study, we introduce a modified transverse loop coil design, which provides improved sensitivity, homogeneity, comfort and safety. We also introduce a bio-compatible, artefact-free and MR-silent coating for intraoral coils. Phantom and in vivo dental MR images demonstrate the advantages of the new intraoral coil design.