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Abstract #3811

An Eight-Channel Tx/Rx Multi-Purpose Coil for MSK MR Imaging at 7 Tesla

Oliver Kraff1,2, Andreas K. Bitz1,2, Philipp Dammann1,3, Lena C. Schaefer1,2, Mark E. Ladd1,2, Susanne C. Ladd1,2, Harald H. Quick1,4

1Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Essen, Germany; 2Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany; 3Clinic for Neurosurgery, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany; 4Institute for Medical Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuernberg, Erlangen, Germany


An eight-channel transmit/receive RF array was built for imaging peripheral regions of the musculoskeletal system that have not been addressed at 7T so far. The array consists of two coil clusters, made of four overlapping loop coils each, to enable flexible positioning on the human body. Numerical simulations were performed for safety validation. We show in vivo results of the human wrist, shoulder, elbow and ankle revealing good excitation over a 180mm field-of-view. Not only GRE but also typical clinical sequences like STIR and TSE performed very well. Imaging of small pathologies (cartilage, ligaments, nerves) could benefit from this technique.

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