RF Body Coil Symmetry as a Function of Cable Routing

Ed B. Boskamp¹, Masahiro Fujimoto¹, Michael Edwards¹

In MRI systems, receive coil connectors are part of the patient cradle for easy access. The patient cradle and coil cables travel through the bore of the system, and thus through the RF body coil. The electric fields generated by the body coil induce voltages and currents in the shielding of this cable bundle. These common mode currents are usually stopped by applying baluns on the cable shield. This research investigates coil symmetry perturbation due to the presence and motion of the cable and baluns. FEM simulation and lab measurements were performed to study the effect.