Mini-Imaging Probes

The MiniWB57R probe with an outer diameter of 57 mm has been developed for micro-imaging of larger animals in vertical bore magnets. The probe body can be combined with exchangeable single or double frequency volume resonators of 35 mm inner diameter e.g. for the study of rat brains or with surface coils for rat abdomen investigations. The MiniWB57R is combined with the Mini0.75 gradient system.

Electrical connections with rf filters are integrated in the probe body for connecting a body temperature sensor and ecg electrodes to monitor the heart beat and to enable cardiac triggered data acquisition. Tubes are built in with Luer connectors from the bottom of the probe to the region of the rf-coils for the application of anesthetics and for the connection of a pressure based respiratory sensor for controlling the animal and to acquire respiration triggered images without motion artifacts.

The actively shielded gradient system is designed to maximize the space available for the objects within a wide bore magnet (shim system) and provides gradient strengths of 45 G/cm at 60 A for a wide variety of applications. The gradient system is water cooled for high duty cycles.

The major applications of the MiniWB57 and MiniWB57R probes are in vivo studies with larger mice or young rats which fit into the 40 mm resonators of the MiniWB57 probe. The 35 mm resonators of the MiniWB57R are optimized for in vivo brain studies with adult rats. The surface coils of the MiniWB57R probe can be used for rat abdomen studies in wide bore magnets.

Another field of applications are investigations of inanimate objects such as larger oil cores, timber, and fruit, that require more space and larger diameters.