A parallel imaging approach to wide-field MR microscopy

Magnetic resonance microscopy, suggested in the earliest papers on MRI, has always been limited by the low signal‐to‐noise ratio resulting from the small voxel size. Magnetic resonance microscopy has largely been enabled by the use of microcoils that provide the signal‐to‐noise ratio improvement required to overcome this limitation. Concomitant with the small coils is a small field‐of‐view, which limits the use of magnetic resonance microscopy as a histological tool or for imaging large regions in general. This article describes initial results in wide field‐of‐view magnetic resonance microscopy using a large array of narrow, parallel coils, which provides a signal‐to‐noise ratio enhancement as well as the ability to use parallel imaging techniques. Comparison images made between a volume coil and the proposed technique demonstrate reductions in imaging time of more than 100 with no loss in signal‐to‐noise ratio or resolution. Magn Reson Med, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.