Abstract #0395

A Two-Dimensional 16 Channel Dipole Transceiver Array for Cardiac MR at 7.0 T: Design, Evaluation of RF Shimming Behavior and Application in CINE Imaging

Andreas Graessl¹, Lukas Winter¹, Celal zerdem¹, Fabian Hezel¹, Katharina Fuchs¹, Harald Pfeiffer², Werner Hoffmann², Thoralf Niendorf¹,³

¹Berlin Ultrahigh Field Facility, Max-Delbrueck-Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany; ²Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Berlin, Germany; ³Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), Charit Campus Buch, Humboldt-University, Berlin, Germany

A two-dimensional 16-channel transceiver array based on dipole elements is designed and applied to Cardiac MR (CMR) at 7.0 Tesla. Dipole Antennas are a promising approach to provide a homogeneous B1+ field distribution and good transmit efficiency in the short wavelength regime of Ultrahigh field MRI. RF efficiency optimization is applied and assessed for slice-by-slice shimming based on simulation data. The transition to in-vivo studies succeeded and revealed excellent B1+-homogeneity and a high myocardium/blood contrast over the whole cardiac region with a single RF shim setting and without subject-specific B1+-shimming or element retuning.