Light Coils: MRI with Modular RF Coils Using Optical Power and Data Transmission

An optically powered and broadcasted modular receive coil concept (Light Coils) is presented for MRI to simultaneously eliminate the challenges in MRI of pediatric or overweight patients, signal-to-noise ratio losses and potential safety hazards due to electro-magnetic interferences in the transmission cables, and Ohmic losses in the metallic wires. By combining innovative RF antenna architectures, low-noise-low-power front end electronics and state-of-the-art silicon photonics technology, Light Coils might offer a robust and scalable solution for MRI image acquisition. Preliminary experimental results on the power-on-fiber driving of LNAs, and optical active detuning of receive coils are also discussed.