Characterization of the first RF coil dedicated to 1.5 T MR guided radiotherapy

The purpose of this study is to investigate the attenuation characteristics of a novel radiofrequency (RF) coil, which is the first coil that is solely dedicated to MR guided radiotherapy with a 1.5 T MR-linac. Additionally, we investigated the impact of the treatment beam on the MRI performance of this RF coil.

First, the attenuation characteristics of the RF coil were characterized. Second, we investigated the impact of the treatment beam on the MRI performance of the RF coil. We additionally demonstrated the ability of the anterior coil to attenuate returning electrons and thereby reducing the dose to the skin at the distal side of the treatment beam.

Intensity modulated radiation therapy simulation of a clinically viable treatment plan for spinal bone metastasis shows a decrease of the dose to the planned tumor volume of 1.8% as a result of the MR coil around the patient. Ionization chamber and film measurements show that the anterior and posterior coil attenuate the beam homogeneously by 0.4% and 2.2%, respectively. The impact of the radiation resulted in a slight drop of the time-course signal-to-noise ratio and was dependent on imaging parameters. However, we could not observe any image artifacts resulting from this irradiation in any situation.

In conclusion, the investigated MR-coil can be utilized for treatments with the 1.5 T-linac system. However, there is still room for improvement when considering both the dosimetric and imaging performance of the coil. (paper)