Amplified local internal coil enhancement (ALICE) [in MRI]

A number of recent studies have demonstrated that an SNR increase may be gained in the retrieval of MRI/S signals from deep anatomical regions by the use of an internal coil designed specifically to envelope only the volume of interest. Such an arrangement requires coupling between the internal coil and the receiver for signal retrieval. two options are available for this purpose: (1) The coil is connected via a transmission line which passes through the body surface to the preamplifier; (2) the receive call is coupled inductively to an external pickup coil. Although offering clear advantages in terms of patient acceptability, the latter technique suffers from some loss of SNR. The author examines a possible technique for overcoming this loss