A Novel RF Resonator for Human-body MRI at 3 T

Abstract

A square-slot-loaded (SSL) radio-frequency (RF) resonator using a microstrip transmission line(MTL) is designed for human-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3 T MRI. The SSL RFresonator shows improved RF magnetic fields resulting in more homogenous fields near the centerof the phantom than traditional RF resonators using MTL. A multichannel body coil using theSSL RF resonators is also simulated and provides improved parallel excitation performance. Inaddition, RF shimming for homogenization can be effectively controlled by adjusting the inputs tothe eight resonators. Numerical results are obtained by using a spherical phantom and a realistichuman-body model at 3 T to calculate the B+1 fields.