Full Brain and Territorial Arterial Spin Labeling with External RF Shimmed Labeling Coil at 7 Tesla

Wouter Koning¹, Esben Thade Petersen¹, Jaco J.M. Zwanenburg¹, Peter R. Luijten¹, Dennis W.J. Klomp¹

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) at ultra high field can theoretically offer a high signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the perfusion signal due to higher intrinsic SNR and the longer T1 relaxation times. A major challenge at 7T MRI is the absence of a body coil. Due to the limited range the head coils used at the 7 Tesla scanners, it is difficult to label the lower regions of the brain. In this research, a simple U-Tube transmitter is used as an external labelling coil, in combination with the standard head coil. With this setup, full brain and territorial ASL maps could be acquired.