Development and Performance Evalution of a Dual Tuned 23Na/1H Knee Coil

Gunthard Lykowsky¹, Flavio Carinci¹, Peter M. Jakob¹, ², Daniel Haddad¹

Although sodium imaging has shown promising results for years, sodium MR is still intrinsically challenging because of the low sensitivity of the 23Na nucleus, low in vivo concentrations, fast transverse relaxation times and the requirement for dual tuned RF coils. Several dual tuning approaches with specific advantages and drawbacks have been proposed over the years, e.g. LC traps, PIN diodes or additional rungs. In this study we use an alternate rung concept to build a 1H/23Na quadrature birdcage and evaluate its performance in regards of SNR and B1 homogeneity.