A 7T ′′Capless′′ Transceive Breast Coil

Introduction Apart from being a non-invasive imaging modality, MR breast imaging can also provide high spatial and temporal resolution images of the breast, which is advantageous for fast and accurate diagnosis of disease. Studies have shown that it is possible to acquire high resolution breast images at ultra high fields with dedicated transceive RF breast coils that can transmit homogenous local B1 field and receive high SNR MR signals [1-3]. However, some of these breast coils have limitations in their functionalities in that they are either unilateral, have limited RF penetration into the chest wall or require addition splitter/hybrid combiner units to drive a bilateral breast coil. This work presents a new method for designing a ultra high field bilateral transceive breast coil. The design method does not require any discrete capacitors (hence the name “Capless Transceive Breast Coil”) and can be driven by a single RF port for simultaneous bilateral breast imaging. A prototype breast coil using this design method was constructed and tested in a 7T Philips whole-body MRI system. Phantom images acquired using the prototype show high homogeneity and excellent RF penetration.