Abstract #3010

8-Channel Transmit/receive Head Coil for 7 T Human Imaging Using Intrinsically Decoupled Strip Line Elements with Meanders

Stephan Orzada^1,2, Oliver Kraff², Lena C. Schfer², Irina Brote², Achim Bahr³, Thomas Bolz³, Stefan Maderwald², Mark E. Ladd², Andreas K. Bitz²

¹ Erwin L. Hahn Institute for MRI, Essen, Germany; ²Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany; ³IMST GmbH, Kamp-Lintfort, Germany

An 8-channel transmit/receive head coil for 7 T was built and tested for B1 efficiency, B1 homogeneity, and SAR efficiency. The head coil consists of 8 intrinsically decoupled strip line elements with meanders. It was found that the new design allows 5.3 times more energy to be put into the coil before reaching the SAR limit and achieves nearly the same flip angle at the same input power when compared to a commercially available 8-channel head coil.