We introduce a new performance metric for RF shimming, the ultimate intrinsic transmit efficiency (UITXE), which provides an absolute reference independent of any particular coil design. We show in simulation that it represents a performance upper bound, which could be approached with finite transmit arrays with an increasing number of coils. In particular, we demonstrated that a 24-channel array could achieve 70% of the UITXE. UITXE could be employed in a straightforward manner in experiments to assess absolute performance of actual arrays and evaluate RF shimming approaches. The associated ideal current patterns could provide new insight for optimal array design.
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