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• Technical Article •
Performance evaluation of metamaterials for rat T1/T2 weighted imaging in 5.0 T MRI: A validation study of image quality and imaging efficiency
GUO Sihui  LÜ Han  ZHANG Dong  ZHANG Yufan  LI Xinxin  CHI Zhonghai  WANG Zhenchang 

Cite this article as GUO S H, LÜ H, ZHANG D, et al. Performance evaluation of metamaterials for rat T1/T2 weighted imaging in 5.0 T MRI: A validation study of image quality and imaging efficiency[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2026, 17(6): 133-139. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.06.017.


[Abstract] Objective To compare the image quality and scanning efficiency with the currently widely used rat clinical magnetic resonance imaging protocol, and systematically evaluate the feasibility of using metamaterials for 5.0 T MRI of the rat brain.Materials and Methods The imaging accuracy of the metamaterial was first validated by performing T1 mapping and T2 mapping on a uniform inorganic solution phantom, comparing the measured T1 and T2 values. Ten-week-old healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 5) were included. Each rat was scanned under two imaging conditions: one using a rat coil, and the other using a 48-channel head coil combined with the metamaterial. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of MR images was evaluated and compared between the two conditions while maintaining identical scan times and spatial resolution. To further investigate the potential of the metamaterial for improving imaging efficiency, metamaterial's scanning parameters were adjusted to achieve the equivalent image SNR with the rat coil parameters, and the differences in scan time were then compared.Results The T1 mapping and T2 mapping results of the phantom indicated that the metamaterial didn't compromise imaging accuracy. Under conditions of same scan time and spatial resolution, the metamaterial group showed significantly higher SNR compared to the rat coil group in T1-weighted imaging (T1WI) (t = 21.57, P < 0.001), T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) (t = 24.175, P < 0.001), T1WI-FLAIR (P = 0.043), and T2WI-FLAIR sequences (t = 8.728, P = 0.001). When adjusted to achieve equivalent image SNR, the scan times for the T2WI, T1WI-FLAIR, and T2WI-FLAIR sequences using the metamaterial were also significantly shorter than those with the rat coil.Conclusions Compared to existing clinical MRI protocols for animals, the metamaterial significantly enhances the SNR and improves scanning efficiency, thereby advancing the imaging capabilities of animal models within clinical MR systems.
[Keywords] metamaterials；clinical ultra-high field magnetic resonance；rats；imaging performance；T1-weighted imaging；T2-weighted imaging

GUO Sihui1   LÜ Han1   ZHANG Dong2   ZHANG Yufan1   LI Xinxin3   CHI Zhonghai3*   WANG Zhenchang1*  

1 Department of Radiology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China

2 Precision and Intelligence Medical Imaging Lab, Beijing Clinical Research Institute, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China

3 TsingMeta Medical Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing 100024, China

Corresponding author: CHI Z H, E-mail: chizh@tsingmeta.com WANG Z C, E-mail: cjr.wzhch@vip.163.com

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2026-02-12
Accepted  2026-05-13
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.06.017
Cite this article as GUO S H, LÜ H, ZHANG D, et al. Performance evaluation of metamaterials for rat T1/T2 weighted imaging in 5.0 T MRI: A validation study of image quality and imaging efficiency[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2026, 17(6): 133-139. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.06.017.

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