A flexible 12-channel transceiver array of transmission line resonators for 7 T MRI

• Published in: Journal of magnetic resonance (1997) Vol. 296; pp. 47 - 59
• Main Authors: Hosseinnezhadian, Sajad, Frass-Kriegl, Roberta, Goluch-Roat, Sigrun, Pichler, Michael, Sieg, Jürgen, Vít, Martin, Poirier-Quinot, Marie, Darrasse, Luc, Moser, Ewald, Ginefri, Jean-Christophe, Laistler, Elmar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.11.2018; Elsevier
• Subjects: Bioengineering; Engineering Sciences; Imaging; Life Sciences; Mechanical flexibility; RF coil; Transceiver coil; Transmission line resonators; Ultra high field MRI; RF coil; Mechanical flexibility; Transmission line resonators; Ultra high field MRI; Transceiver coil
• ISSN: 1090-7807; 1096-0856; 1096-0856
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmr.2018.08.013

[Display omitted] •A flexible transceiver array based on TLRs is fabricated for cardiac MRI at 7 T.•Array elements are decoupled using a decoupling-ring based technique.•Acceleration factors up to 3 in bent configuration are demonstrated.•The fabricated array is compatible with parallel transmission techniques.•The array enables geometrical conformity to bodies within a large range of size. A flexible transceiver array based on transmission line resonators (TLRs) combining the advantages of coil arrays with the possibility of form-fitting targeting cardiac MRI at 7 T is presented. The design contains 12 elements which are fabricated on a flexible substrate with rigid PCBs attached on the center of each element to place the interface components, i.e. transmit/receive (T/R) switch, power splitter, pre-amplifier and capacitive tuning/matching circuitry. The mutual coupling between elements is cancelled using a decoupling ring-based technique. The performance of the developed array is evaluated by 3D electromagnetic simulations, bench tests, and MR measurements using phantoms. Efficient inter-element decoupling is demonstrated in flat configuration on a box-shaped phantom (Sij < −19 dB), and bent on a human torso phantom (Sij < −16 dB). Acceleration factors up to 3 can be employed in bent configuration with reasonable g-factors (<1.7) in an ROI at the position of the heart. The array enables geometrical conformity to bodies within a large range of size and shape and is compatible with parallel imaging and parallel transmission techniques.