Fast high-resolution dental MRI using a disposable wireless intraoral coil: From concept to reality.
Authors
Affiliations (4)
Affiliations (4)
- Lauterbur Imaging Research Center, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China.
- Key Laboratory for Magnetic Resonance and Multimodality Imaging of Guangdong Province, Shenzhen 518055, China.
- Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA.
Abstract
Fast high-resolution dental MRI remains challenging due to the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in small-volume tissues and the reliance on unwieldy, clinically impractical signal detection devices. In this study, we present a fast high-resolution dental MRI framework that achieved superior soft tissue visualization in a resolution of 0.30 × 0.30 × 1.5 mm<sup>3</sup> within 68 s. Central to this framework was a novel wireless braced intraoral coil (WBIC), which demonstrated up to 5.83-fold improvements in SNR in combination with a 48-channel head coil compared with the only head coil. In the <i>in vivo</i> studies, deep learning-assisted reconstruction methods integrated with the WBIC significantly accelerated the imaging process. Imaging with 0.30 × 0.30 × 1.5 mm<sup>3</sup> resolution enabled clear visualization of periodontal membranes with anatomical thicknesses ranging from 0.15 to 0.38 mm, as well as gingival microstructures down to 200 μm. Compared with cone-beam computed tomography and the conventional dental MRI, the fast high-resolution dental MRI framework provided significantly enhanced visualization of both hard and soft tissue structures, particularly for gingival and other soft tissue regions. It also enabled comprehensive full-arch imaging of both single- and multi-rooted teeth in the maxilla and mandible, promising a step toward clinically practical, radiation-free dental MRI.