For the tiniest patients, new USC tech brings clearer MRI images. After four years of work, we’re excited to share our fully 3D-printed, patient-specific flexible MRI coils for a 0.55T mid-field MRI system, enabling dynamic imaging of the wrist and heart. Congratulations to Felix Muñoz for leading this effort, and the team: Prof. Ye Tian, Ted Lê, Jaehwan Jang, Helmut Stark, Mohammad Shafiqul Islam, Prof. Min-gu Kim, and Prof. Krishna Nayak. 🧲🫀✨

Paper title: Improved dynamic MRI of the wrist and heart at 0.55 T enabled by rapid 3D printed flexible coils

Publication:

  1. Improved dynamic MRI of the wrist and heart at 0.55 T enabled by rapid 3D printed flexible coils Félix Muñoz, Ye Tian, Ted Lê, Jaehwan Jang, Helmut Stark, Mohammad Shafiqul Islam, Min-gu Kim, Krishna S Nayak, and Yasser Khan Nature Communications, 2026 Media coverage: USC News, USC Viterbi News, 3D Printing Industry, and many more.

    Dynamic MRI at low field is limited by reduced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and additional losses imposed by accelerated acquisitions required for high temporal resolution. Flexible, anatomically conformal coils can recover SNR by maintaining proximity during motion, but lower conductor conductivity introduces resistive losses, requiring careful material optimization. We demonstrate high-quality dynamic imaging at 0.55 T using coils fabricated via two rapid, low-cost digital methods: direct-ink-write silver printing and screen printing of copper-doped EGaIn. Four-element wrist arrays were fabricated in 8 minutes per element at approximately $30 in consumable materials. In three subjects, both arrays achieved up to 4x higher contrast and 5x greater sharpness than a commercial coil during dynamic wrist imaging. To demonstrate generalizability, a seven-element silver-ink cardiac array produced cine images comparable to a commercial coil. These results establish digitally fabricated flexible coils as a scalable and accessible solution for dynamic musculoskeletal and cardiac MRI at low field.

    @article{munoz2026improved, title = {Improved dynamic MRI of the wrist and heart at 0.55 T enabled by rapid 3D printed flexible coils}, author = {Mu{\~n}oz, F{\'e}lix and Tian, Ye and L{\^e}, Ted and Jang, Jaehwan and Stark, Helmut and Islam, Mohammad Shafiqul and Kim, Min-gu and Nayak, Krishna S and Khan, Yasser}, journal = {Nature Communications}, year = {2026}, publisher = {Nature Publishing Group UK London}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-71817-x}, thumbnail = {munoz2026improved.png}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71817-x}, pdf = {munoz2026improved.pdf}, note = {Media coverage: }, media_1 = {USC News, }, media_1_link = {https://today.usc.edu/for-the-tiniest-patients-new-usc-tech-brings-clearer-mri-images/}, media_2 = {USC Viterbi News, }, media_2_link = {https://viterbischool.usc.edu/news/2026/05/usc-researchers-develop-3d-printable-mri-coils-for-low-cost-improved-dynamic-imaging/}, media_3 = {3D Printing Industry, }, media_3_link = {https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/usc-researchers-print-mri-coils-for-a-fraction-of-the-cost-251840/}, media_4 = {and many more.}, media_4_link = {https://www.miragenews.com/usc-tech-enhances-mri-clarity-for-tiny-patients-1725460/} }

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