Human Brain Imaging at 9.4 Tesla using a Combination of Traveling Wave Excitation with a 15-Channel Receive-Only Array

Jens Oliver Hoffmann¹, Gunamony Shajan¹, Rolf Pohmann¹

Traveling wave imaging using a Tx/Rx patch antenna has the potential to provide a more homogeneous B1+ field over a large field-of-view compared to circularly polarized volume coils. However, the method suffers from poor sensitivity which prevents the application to routine imaging. Therefore, we combined a patch antenna for transmission with a 15-channel receive-only array inside a narrow head gradient for human brain imaging at 9.4 Tesla. The setup can provide spin excitation covering the whole brain for low flip angle applications; high SNR and simple usage. However, anticipated advantages were spoiled by B1+ artifacts in our initial results.