By Brenda Tilke

Advanced Imaging Research, a small start-up company based in Cleveland, has developed a new phased-array head coil that the company says improves signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio by up to 40%.

During a press conference at the RSNA meeting Sunday afternoon, Ravi Srinivason, Advanced Imaging Research president, described the new head coil's key features and also discussed the company's involvement in developing a heel coil to image astronauts after they complete space missions.

The four-channel adult head array is designed for high-resolution scanning of the cerebrum, cerebellum, medulla, pons, and upper C-spine. The coil spans a 22 to 24-cm field-of-view. Under development are an eight-channel head coil for fMRI and a quadrature/two channel 3-tesla coil.

"We have conducted double-blind studies showing the 20% to 40% improvement in SNR with our head coil," Srinivason said. The studies were not conducted by independent organizations and Srinivason acknowledged that independent review will be necessary. The company has not submitted the coil to the Food and Drug Administration for approval but hopes to do so sometime next year. According to Srinivason, the coil may be distributed through OEMs like Siemens, GE, and Marconi (formerly Picker International). A patent on the coil is pending.

"This is a transitional period for us," he said. "We are here to attract the attention of manufacturers and to see what the competitors are exhibiting at the show."

Advanced Imaging Research is receiving financial assistant through the NASA Glenn Garrett Morgan Commercialization Initiative, a program that helps small businesses owned by women and minorities compete effectively.

Advanced Imaging Research also developed a heel coil NASA used to study bone loss in astronauts returning from space.

"Astronauts who have spent a week in space are bedridden for about three months after they return to Earth," Srinivason said. "A week in space ages the body about a year. The heel bone is the most weight-bearing bone in the body. Scanning the heel bones of returning astronauts may yield important information related to aging, bone loss, and the development of osteoporosis."