Abstract
Multi-element volume radio-frequency (RF) coils are an integral aspect of the growing field of high-field magnetic resonance imaging. In these systems, a popular volume coil of choice has become the transverse electromagnetic (TEM) transceiver coil consisting of microstrip resonators. In this paper, to further advance this design approach, a new microstrip resonator strategy in which the transmission line is segmented into alternating impedance sections, referred to as stepped impedance resonators (SIRs), is investigated. Single-element simulation results in free space and in a phantom at 7 T (298 MHz) demonstrate the rationale and feasibility of the SIR design strategy. Simulation and image results at 7 T in a phantom and human head illustrate the improvements in a transmit magnetic field, as well as RF efficiency (transmit magnetic field versus specific absorption rate) when two different SIR designs are incorporated in 8-element volume coil configurations and compared to a volume coil consisting of microstrip elements.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 6477090 |
| Pages (from-to) | 327-333 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 2014 |
Keywords
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- microstrip
- radio-frequency (RF) coils
- stepped impedance resonator (SIR)
- transverse electromagnetic (TEM)