| Question 1: Which of the following statements about phased-array (PA) coils is most accurate? |
| Reference: | "It is recommended that the qualified medical physicist/MRI scientist perform a more detailed assessment of coil performance by measuring SNR for each element of an RF array coil in a manner similar to the surface coil SNR assessment." 2015 ACR MRI QC Manual: |
| Choice A: | PA coil testing is more straightforward than for quadrature coils because failure of any element results in a horrible image. |
| Choice B: | The large number of coil elements in a PA coil can lengthen the time it takes to perform QA testing compared to quadrature coils. |
| Choice C: | Since SNR is generally higher in PA coils compared with quadrature coils, ROI placement in SNR testing of PA coils is less of an issue. |
| Choice D: | PA coil testing requires advanced equipment because of fiber optic technology. |
| Question 2: Which of the following organizations provide coil element geometry information for a broad range of RF coils? |
| Reference: | This information is not available from any of the documents provided by ACR, NEMA, or IEC. When it is available at all, it must be obtained from the equipment vendor. |
| Choice A: | ACR |
| Choice B: | NEMA |
| Choice C: | IEC |
| Choice D: | None of the above |
| Question 3: According to the NEMA document on image uniformity, which of the following methods specifically reduces the noise sensitivity of the Peak Deviation non-uniformity measure? |
| Reference: | NEMA Standards Publication MS 3-2008 (R2014) "Determination of Image Uniformity in Diagnostic Magnetic Resonance Images", pg 4. |
| Choice A: | Gray-Scale Uniformity |
| Choice B: | ACR MR Accreditation Program Uniformity |
| Choice C: | Normalized Average Absolute Deviation Uniformity |
| Choice D: | None of the above |
| Question 4: True or False: For assessment of multi-element coils, the ACR specifically recommends testing individual channel elements. |
| Reference: | "For multi-channel coils, it is recommended to test individual channel elements separately." 2015 ACR MRI QC Manual, pg 93. |
| Choice A: | True |
| Choice B: | False |
| Question 5: How does the noise in a noise image indicate that the coil combination is not sum of squares? |
| Reference: | NEMA MS 9-2008 (R2014) Annex A table and elements of the talk. |
| Choice A: | It is impossible to tell from the noise image. |
| Choice B: | The standard deviation of the noise is higher than expected. |
| Choice C: | The mean of the noise is higher than expected. |
| Choice D: | The ratio of the mean to standard deviation is lower than expected. |
| Question 6: Based on this talk, how large should the measurement region of interest be for a spine coil? |
| Reference: | According to NEMA MS 1-2008 (R2014), pg 1, Section 1.3: "The measurement region of interest (MROI) is a centered, regularly shaped geometric area enclosing at least 75% of the area of the image of the signal-producing volume of the phantom." |
| Choice A: | 7 x 7 voxels |
| Choice B: | 11 x 11 voxels |
| Choice C: | About the size of the coil. |
| Choice D: | About the size of a pear |
| Question 7: True or False: MRI DICOM images are always scaled by a physically relevant value. |
| Reference: | Chenevert TL, et al. "Errors in Quantitative Image Analysis due to
Platform-Dependent Image Scaling." Transl Oncol. 2014 Feb 1;7(1):65-71. eCollection 2014 Feb. |
| Choice A: | True |
| Choice B: | False |
| Question 8: What is the single most important concept in RF Coil Testing? |
| Reference: | Magnetic Resonance Imaging Quality Control Manual: Section IV Annual MRI System Performance Evaluation, American College of Radiology pp 91-108, 2015 |
| Choice A: | Getting the highest SNR possible |
| Choice B: | Doing it as quickly as possible |
| Choice C: | Reproducibility - both in testing and in analysis |
| Choice D: | Meeting the vendors' specs |
| Question 9: True or False: Test design choices that improve the accuracy of the mean signal measurement are more important than those that improve the noise measurement |
| Reference: | "Because the noise term is both small and in the denominator of the SNR, test design choices that improve the accuracy of the noise measurement are more important than those that improve the mean signal measurement." 2015 ACR MRI QC Manual, pp 91-92. |
| Choice A: | True |
| Choice B: | False |
| Question 10: When measuring the SNR of a surface coil, which is the best combination of ROIs to use to measure both the signal and the noise? |
| Reference: | Magnetic Resonance Imaging Quality Control Manual: Section IV Annual MRI System Performance Evaluation, American College of Radiology pp 91-108, 2015 |
| Choice A: | Small ROI for the signal and small ROI for the noise |
| Choice B: | Small ROI for the signal and large ROI for the noise |
| Choice C: | Large ROI for the signal and small ROI for the noise |
| Choice D: | Large ROI for the signal and large ROI for the noise |
