An integrated microfluidic cryo-cooled planar coil system for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

An integrated microfluidic cryo-cooled planar radiofrequency (RF) coil system has been developed to enhance the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of high resolution and ultra-fast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) experiments. The developed system can cool MR planar coils to liquid nitrogen temperature (-196°C) without freezing the target samples on the imaging surface, thereby maintaining minimal distance between the coils and the samples. The planar coils were fabricated on a 0.5 mm thick poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) substrate by using microfabrication technologies with a poly (dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microfluidic channel for liquid nitrogen cooling. The average signal to noise ratio (SNR) enhancement measured with imaging was 1.51 ± 0.09 times.