Sub-millimeter resolution electrical conductivity images of brain tissues using magnetic resonance-based electrical impedance tomography

Recent magnetic resonance (MR)-based electrical impedance tomography (MREIT) of in vivo animal and human subjects enabled the imaging of electromagnetic properties, such as conductivity and permittivity, on tissue structure and function with a few millimeter pixel size. At those resolutions, the conductivity contrast might be sufficient to distinguish different tissue type for certain applications. Since the precise measurement of electrical conductivity under the tissue levels can provide alternative information in a wide range of biomedical applications, it is necessary to develop high-resolution MREIT technique to enhance its availability. In this study, we provide the experimental evaluation of sub-millimeter resolution conductivity imaging method using a 3T MR scanner combined with a multi-echo MR pulse sequence, multi-channel RF coil, and phase optimization method. From the phantom and animal imaging results, sub-millimeter resolution exhibited similar signal-to-noise ratio of MR magnitude and noise levels in magnetic flux density comparing to the existing millimeter resolution. The reconstructed conductivity images at sub-millimeter resolution can distinguish different brain tissues with a pixel size as small as 350 μm.