Body imaging at 7T is challenging due to wavelength effects, a low sensitivity in deep tissue1, and a large variation in body sizes across the patient population. A common approach is to use close fitting coils or dipoles2,3,4, which exhibit a high transmit and receive sensitivity and are fairly load independent, but lack the easy handling necessary for routine clinical use. We aim to construct an RF coil array for general purpose body imaging for routine use that is robust, easy, and safe to handle, while retaining adequate sensitivity in the deeper regions. Given these boundary conditions, we settled on a stand-off design5 with an RF shield. Thus, consciously sacrificing some sensitivity to improve handling and safety. After extensive optimization we converged to an optimal coil array consisting of a transceive dipole array complemented with a birdcage array for reception only. The array was completed and a sensitivity analysis with respect to body sizes was performed.
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