Abstract #2744

An Easily Integrated Multichannel Modulator for All Field Strengths

Neal Hollingsworth¹, Katherine Moody², Jon-Fredrik Nielsen³, Douglas C. Noll³, William A. Grissom⁴, Steven Wright¹

¹Electrical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States; ²Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States; ³Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States; ⁴Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States

Parallel transmit allows for acceleration of spatially selective RF pulses using multiple, independently modulated channels. We have developed an improved, stand alone, multichannel vector modulation system to support work with multi-dimensional RF transmit pulses. The modulators are integrated with an existing MRI system by connecting the RF input to the power amplifier and a digital trigger to them. Scaling to high channel counts is straight forward due to a modular design. Further, they can be used with systems at virtually all field strengths by replacing a simple filter located on a daughter board.