Braided-Shape Electromagnetic Sensor for Screening Multiple Eggs Using 7-Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based in-ovo studies have great potential for use in both the food industry and preclinical research, but there are still limitations in terms of simultaneously screening large numbers of eggs. This study proposes a novel electromagnetic (EM) sensor for the simultaneous acquisition of images of multiple eggs using MRI. The coil has a braid-like shape, in which the eggs are placed in the space between the turns. The proposed sensor can be extended to multiple braids while exhibiting similar performance in terms of magnetic field |B-1| and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). This work consists of design and validation with EM simulations, followed by a bench test and image acquisition. The images of multiple eggs are compared with a reference volume eight-channel loop coil array and single-loop coils. It was observed that the proposed coil can produce a uniform magnetic field |B-1| for each egg, and a good SNR was acquired with MRI. The proposed coil offers an advantage by reducing the number of transmit/receive channels needed to image multiple eggs while maintaining the same image quality for each egg.