Surface coil MR imaging of the human brain with an analytic reception profile correction

An analytic correction method was developed and applied to correct the signal intensity nonuniformity caused by the inhomogeneous reception profile of surface coils used--because of their higher sensitivity--for magnetic resonance imaging of the brain at 1.5 T. The reception profile was analytically modeled by using the Biot-Savart law. The correction considerably improved visual interpretation of the images by modeling and removing the dependence of signal intensity on distance from the coil. The method can be used for single or multiple coils of any planar geometry and in any orientation. Application of this technique allows imaging of the brain with surface coils, yielding increased resolution and signal-to-noise ratio, without the penalty of image nonuniformity.