Prostate Imaging at 7 Tesla with Fractionated Dipole Antennas: A New Type of Radiative Coil Array Element with Lower SAR Levels.

Alexander Raaijmakers¹, Ingmar Voogt¹, Dennis W. J. Klomp¹, Peter R. Luijten¹, Nico van den Berg¹

Prostate imaging at 7 Tesla requires advanced coil array elements that are designed according to radiative principles. The single-side adapted dipole antenna (SiSiAD) is one example of such a radiative element. Another example is the fractionated dipole antenna. It is a highly innovative segmented antenna that has demonstrated the same performance as the SiSiAD while not using the heavy and costly ceramic. Four of these elements were combined with four SiSiADs for prostate imaging. Simulations and measurements show that this setup is able to reach the same B₁⁺ efficiency in the prostate with at least 33% lower SAR levels.