Volume coils for highest field MRI

These are exciting times for biomedical MRI. The new decade has arrived with 3 T magnets in the clinics, with 4 T, 7 T, and 8 T magnets in the laboratories and 9.4 T magnets on the order books. The main reason for these high field magnets, now reaching the limits of niobium-titanium superconducting technology, is to gain higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the imaging speed, resolution and contrast that come with it. Magnetic field strength however, is only one of several instrument parameters affecting the SNR. Our objective is to design a more efficient RF volume coil for human head and body MRI at the highest fields available. A new TEM volume coil is reported which improves on performance, patient access, and magnet bore space requirements compared to conventional coils. The solutions explored for the head coil in this study carry to body coils with arm slots and to the extremity coils for the foot, shoulder, elbow etc.