MRI coils using metamaterials

Metamaterial based radio frequency (RF) surface coils are investigated for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications. The utilization of the metamaterial is expected to enhance the magnetic field intensity of the surface coils and improve the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the MRI system. Two types of metamaterials, namely the metamaterial structures with negative permeability (μ_r) or high permeability, are co-designed with the RF coils. The metamaterial based coils at ultra-high frequency (UHF) of 300 MHz for 7 Tesla MRI system exhibit enhanced magnetic field intensity compared to a conventional coil.