Abstract #0420

Castrilla N, Mills C, Fitzsimmons V, Yang Y, Murphy-Boesch J

An 16- Element close-fitting head coil insert is described for acquiring high-sensitivity images of the brain at 7 Tesla. The insert was designed to fit within the cylindrical volume of a transmit volume coil, and its former has been optimized for a wide range of head sizes. Twelve coil elements were distributed around the dome of the head and four placed over the cerebellum for whole brain coverage. Staggering of two layers of elements azimuthally provided greater overlap in the S-I direction. Low-impedance preamps integrated into the assembly provide high sensitivity and good isolation among the elements.