When considering SNR improvements with coil design, which offers the best theoretical results?

Quadrature coils typically offer the best theoretical results for improving signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in MRI because they utilize two overlapped coils that receive signals from two orthogonal orientations. This design allows for more efficient signal reception and typically maximizes the amount of signal that the coil can pick up from the region of interest.

The configuration of quadrature coils allows them to harness the benefits of both coil designs, leading to an improved SNR compared to other coil types. This enhancement occurs because the coil can better capture the magnetic resonance signals that are induced, resulting from the object being imaged.

While other types of coils, such as linear, surface, and volume coils, can also be useful in specific scenarios, they do not provide the same level of theoretical SNR improvement as quadrature coils. Linear coils typically only sample signals in one direction, while surface coils are more localized and better suited for surface imaging, and volume coils are more oriented towards large volume coverage without the same efficiency in SNR as quadrature designs. Thus, the quadrature coil’s design inherently allows for an advantage in SNR performance due to its ability to simultaneously detect more signal information.