RF Coil Designs for 7T Cardiac Imaging

John Thomas Vaughan¹, Carl j. Snyder¹, Lance Delabarre¹, Jinfeng Tian¹, Can Akgun¹, Gregor Adriany¹, John Strupp¹, Peter Andersen¹, Eddie Auerbach¹, Pierre-Francois Van de Moortele¹, Kamil Ugurbil¹

Our objective was to investigate three RF coil approaches to human cardiac imaging at 7T. The first approach used a 16-channel, whole body coil together with 16 channel local receivers. The second approach used a 16-channel transceiver array. And the third approach made use of a close fitting torso coil with local 16 channel receivers. The three approaches were evaluated by image and efficiency data, as well as practical constraints such as lead placement, receiver coil accommodation, and human comfort. All three coils were used successfully, and found to offer options and respective trade-offs for successful cardiac imaging at 7T.