A large segmented double-tuned quadrature high-field MR coil with exceptional tuning stability
Résumé
There is urgent need for a more satisfactory high-field whole-body double-tuned (DT) rf coil to better support the use of local coils in applications of hyperpolarized 13C methods in MRI. We present a novel HF-segmented DT coil design showing an unprecedented degree of minimization of E fields, even with long samples, with little compromise in B1 efficiency at either frequency and with greater potential for scalability to whole-body DT T/R CP coils at high fields. The design was optimized using a combination of time-domain CST simulations and frequency-domain COMSOL-RF simulations, and experimentally validated in a 200MHz/53MHz coil of 25 cm OD and 20 cm ID, fully loaded with samples from 0 to 350 mM salinity (as in salt-cured foods).