WaveTronica contributed to the MIRACLE project by engineering a mammocoil setup. To be able to do a comparison study on a 7tesla and 10.5tesla MRI scanner. Since these two MRI scanners inherently operate with different radio frequencies for both the proton and phosphorus nuclei imaging. The coils cannot be made identical. But for a fair comparison, the coils needed to be similar enough, I.e., meet minimum specifications. WaveTronica realized several test versions and mostly spent time on reorganizing parts (antenna like structures) on the same holder mechanics. During this process, the most used equipment is a vector network analyzer, but also, at some point, the MRI scanner from UMCU was needed to verify the findings from the bench measurements. A workable solution for 7tesla was found that could be translated to 10.5T. The final preproduction versions with a fitting holder were designed and shipped to the USA with accompanying documentation (including results from the safety study performed by the UMCU). These documentations are essential for the Minnesota University local safety commission for scanner clearance of this new hardware. To be able to compare scanner performance between UMCU and Minnesota scanners, a Phantom was designed by WaveTronica and shared with both parties.
Before WaveTronica can bring the MRI coil and the insight on cancer treatment progression this technology can bring to the patient. More work and studies need to be performed. As promising as this new technology is, and as much as our team would like to move forward. Medical technology development is time-consuming, expensive, and bound by regulations. To keep moving forward, WaveTronica has found interested investors and applied for a new EU grant in a new consortium. This project has been a significant investment for a small enterprise as WaveTronica. Nonetheless, we believe it is vital to the future of our company and also could be (partially) to the future of MRI worldwide as a tool to improve patient treatments.
