http://www.nitrc.org/forum/forum.php?forum_id=7593 <table border="0" width="100%"><tr><td align="left"/></tr></table> <p><b>Improved SNR for combined TMS-fMRI: A support device for commercially available body array coil.</b></p> <p>J Neurosci Methods. 2017 Jun 30;:</p> <p>Authors: Wang WT, Xu B, Butman JA</p> <p>Abstract<br/> BACKGROUND: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation tool extensively used in clinical and cognitive neuroscience research. TMS has been applied during functional magnetic resonance imaging (i.e., concurrent/interleaved TMS-fMRI) to understand neural mechanisms underlying cognitive functions. However, no advanced commercial multi-channel whole-brain array MR coils can fit the large TMS coil. We developed a low-cost and easy-to-configure setup that takes advantage of the superior signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) performance of commercially available flexible body array coils that can accommodate the TMS coil.<br/> NEW METHOD: Two flexible MRI body array coils (i.e., the Combo coil) were fitted on a simple coil support with a TMS-coil holder. Phantom and in vivo images acquired using the Combo coil with and without a TMS coil were compared with those from a product 12-channel (12CH) form-fit head array coil.<br/> RESULTS: Relative to the 12CH head coil, images acquired using the Combo coil were of similar quality, but with increased noise levels, leading to moderately reduced temporal SNR values.<br/> COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD: A previous study reported that the temporal SNR of a product 12CH head coil was twice that of a transmit/receive volume birdcage coil commonly used in combined TMS-fMRI. Together with the results of the present work, they indicate that the Combo-coil setup improves SNR performance for combined TMS-fMRI acquisition.<br/> CONCLUSION: The inexpensive and easy-to-configure Combo-coil setup offers an effective and likely superior alternative to transmit/receive birdcage coil for combined TMS-fMRI.<br/> </p><p>PMID: 28673806 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]</p> en-us Copyright 2000-2026 NITRC OSI Sun, 03 May 2026 3:45:03 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss NITRC RSS generator