An 8-channel Tx dipole and 20-channel Rx loop coil array for MRI of the cervical spinal cord at 7 Tesla

The quality of cervical spinal cord images can be improved by the use of tailored radiofrequency (RF) coil solutions for ultrahigh field imaging; however, very few commercial and research 7-T RF coils currently exist for the spinal cord, and in particular, those with parallel transmission (pTx) capabilities. This work presents the design, testing, and validation of a pTx/Rx coil for the human neck and cervical/upper thoracic spinal cord. The pTx portion is composed of eight dipoles to ensure high homogeneity over this large region of the spinal cord. The Rx portion is made up of twenty semiadaptable overlapping loops to produce high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) across the patient population. The coil housing is designed to facilitate patient positioning and comfort, while also being tight fitting to ensure high sensitivity. We demonstrate RF shimming capabilities to optimize B₁ ⁺ uniformity, power efficiency, and/or specific absorption rate efficiency. B₁ ⁺ homogeneity, SNR, and g-factor were evaluated in adult volunteers and demonstrated excellent performance from the occipital lobe down to the T4-T5 level. We compared the proposed coil with two state-of-the-art head and head/neck coils, confirming its superiority in the cervical and upper thoracic regions of the spinal cord. This coil solution therefore provides a convincing platform for producing the high image quality necessary for clinical and research scanning of the upper spinal cord.