M-One aims at developing next-generation MRI devices for earlier diagnosis of neurological conditions

The project

The aim of M-One project is to radically improve standards of 7T brain imaging.

The project aims to develop and commercialize an MRI coil easily usable in clinical imaging that will be able to image the entire brain, safely and without the presence of dark spots.

This 7T MRI coil for the brain is based on two patented M-CUBE results that will bring together metamaterial technologies for improved imaging capacity.M-One’s predecessor, M-CUBE was the first European project combining metamaterials and MRI, leading to discoveries that will allow greater access to information about the human brain.

M-One is about transforming these concepts into technologies that will be developed and brought to market.The consortium aims to bring European ingenuity in MRI on the global stage with high resolution and high contrast brainimages.

The M-One project will improve early diagnosis of brain disease and conditions, contributing to an improved global health and reduced overall costs to health systems.

Work packages

WP2
Numerical experimentation
First, we aim to develop an accurate and efficient method to evaluate new MRI coils performance in clinical MRI conditions. Faster and more accurate than existing packages.

The design of the metamaterial birdcage coil will be optimized in terms of B1+ transmitted field, while minimizing the maximum local Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), the energy absorbed by the human head in our case.

The design of the Rx-array with the 32 receive elements will be also optimized thanks to new software calculating the best geometrical position of the loop elements to obtain the best signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

WP3
Metamaterial birdcage
Optimize realistic designs in order to develop and realize the transmit coil.

Build the optimized birdcage in order to get a homogeneous B1+ field map experimentally on the Standardized AnthropoMorphic (SAM) head phantom.

WP4
Receive array
The receive coil will be conceived with 32 loop elements. The position of each element will be studied for this Rx array coil, in order to obtain the best Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) achievable in our configuration. The mechanical part of the support where the patient will position his/her head is important in order to ensure sufficient patient comfort.

WP5
In vivo evaluation & ethics
In vivo validation of the homogenization of the transmitted B1+ field, as well as the receive array SNR with our innovative MRI coil.

Every document needed for in vivo measurements will be provided to the ethics committee.This will also be a step for the consortium toward the preparation of conformity documents for our product.

WP Summary

To summarize, WP2 will be dedicated to Numerical experimentation to optimize the software, already in good shape thanks to the M-Cube project. The aim is to optimize our metamaterial birdcage faster than commercial software. At this stage, we will have our optimized design for metamaterial birdcages taking the best of HMA (hybridized meta-atom) and CBC (connected birdcage) approaches developed in the FET project. 

The results obtained with our software will be checked and validated on the Computer Simulation Technology (CST) commercial software. The transmit coil (Tx-coil) will be realized and tested on phantom on the 7T MRI scanner. This will be the focus of the WP3 - Metamaterial birdcage coil. 

Next, the development of the receive coil (Rx-coil) will complete the MRI coil in the WP4 - Receive array coil. A study will be realized to improve the SNR by developing our own electronics. The design of the Rx-array coil will integrate the detuning of the coil in order to avoid interference during the transmit phase. 

Finally, the complete MRI coil, with both Tx and Rx components, will be measured on volunteers. This is the scope of the WP5 - In vivo measurement and ethics. This will complement the first in vivo measurement in the M-Cube project in “restricted SAR mode”. Every document required for safety measurement in “realistic SAR mode” will be provided.

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