An Orthogonality Based RF Decoupling Method

Hua Wang¹, Bing Keong Joe Li¹, Adnan Trakic¹, Ewald Weber¹, Craig Engstrom¹, Yu Li¹, Stuart Crozier¹

A conformal RF coil array design for use in a MRI system is proposed. In particular, the coil array is designed without the use of any cumbersome mutual decoupling schemes. Coil elements are designed based on orthogonality, which will naturally minimise the problematic mutual coupling effects inherently existed in most phased-array systems. A prototype of a knee coil constructed with this scheme is testified to be pertinent to Magic Angle applications. In addition, consistent imaging quality invariant to coil orientation with respect to B0, like B1 homogeneity, SNR and coil efficiency, can be obtained with the proposed orthogonality design.