USC develops flexible MRI coils for infants, in testing

An infant lies at the center of a problem built for adults: an MRI coil can sit too far from a small body, leaving gaps that weaken the signal. Researchers at the University of Southern California have developed a flexible, 3D-printed alternative, and in testing it produced roughly four times greater image contrast than standard commercial versions.

The devices are coils — antennas that pick up signals generated by an MRI machine. Yasser Khan, an assistant professor at USC's Viterbi School of Engineering, leads the lab that designs and prints them. The team spent about three years developing a process that prints conductive silver ink onto a thermoplastic elastomer, a material that stretches 5–10% and lets the coil bend and move with the body.

The practical difference is speed and fit. Each sensor can be produced in under 10 minutes for about $30, while a custom design could be made for a child and then remade as that child grows. Khan's lab worked with the Dynamic Imaging Science Center, led by Krishna Shrinivas Nayak, and with John Wood, director of cardiovascular MRI at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

So what changes in practice? If the reported performance carries into clinical use, children could receive MRI equipment shaped more closely to their bodies, potentially giving doctors clearer images as children grow. For now, that is a development goal, not a deployed service: the reported contrast result comes from the team's testing, and the source does not describe routine hospital use.

The project also shows why the coil was not developed in isolation. Access to an MRI, alongside conversations with cardiologists, radiologists and imaging scientists, connected Khan's engineering work with the needs of pediatric imaging. The result is an inexpensive device aimed at a recurring problem: keeping the image useful as a child changes.