Jiaming Cui1,
Ivan E. Dimitrov2, 3, Sergey Cheshkov2,
4, Mary P. McDougall, 15, Craig R. Malloy2,
4, Steven M. Wright1, 5
1Electrical
and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX,
United States; 2Advanced Imaging Research Center, University of
Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States; 3Philips
Medical systems, Cleveland, OH, United States; 4Department of
Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX,
United States; 5Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University,
College Station, TX, United States
Breast imaging and spectroscopy are of interest at 7T. In this abstract, a 7T Forced Current Excited (FCE) bilateral breast coil, which can be electronically switched to unilateral excitation mode, was developed. The coil was designed to provide the large field-of-view needed for bilateral breast imaging, while allowing unilateral mode when higher excitation fields are needed. Extending the forced current approach to two Helmholtz pairs avoided any difficulties with mode splits due to coupling between the closely spaced coils. The coil was tested at a 7T scanner using phantoms, demonstrating highly effective mode switching and excellent homogeneity.