Graham Wiggins1, Bei Zhang1, Qi Duan1, Daniel K. Sodickson1
1Radiology, Center for Biomedical Imaging, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
In contrast to standard volume coil designs, which set up a standing wave within the volume of the coil, it is possible with a patch antenna to excite a traveling wave mode down the entire bore of the scanner. We assess the utility of this approach for human head imaging at 7 Tesla. Homogeneity was improved compared to a CP head coil, though results were subject-dependent. The B1+ efficiency of the patch antenna and the SNR obtained when it is used in transmit-receive mode were assessed.