@article{KraffBitzDammannetal.2010,
  author    = {Kraff, Oliver and Bitz, Andreas and Dammann, Philipp and Ladd, Susanne C. and Ladd, Mark E. and Quick, Harald H.},
  title     = {An eight-channel transmit/receive multipurpose coil for musculoskeletal MR imaging at 7 T},
  series = {Medical Physics},
  volume    = {37},
  journal   = {Medical Physics},
  number    = {12},
  publisher = {Wiley},
  address   = {Hoboken, NJ},
  issn      = {2473-4209},
  doi       = {10.1118/1.3517176},
  pages     = {6368 -- 6376},
  year      = {2010},
  abstract  = {Purpose: MRI plays a leading diagnostic role in assessing the musculoskeletal (MSK) system and is well established for most questions at clinically used field strengths (up to 3 T). However, there are still limitations in imaging early stages of cartilage degeneration, very fine tendons and ligaments, or in locating nerve lesions, for example. 7 T MRI of the knee has already received increasing attention in the current published literature, but there is a strong need to develop new radiofrequency (RF) coils to assess more regions of the MSK system. In this work, an eight-channel transmit/receive RF array was built as a multipurpose coil for imaging some of the thus far neglected regions. An extensive coil characterization protocol and first in vivo results of the human wrist, shoulder, elbow, knee, and ankle imaged at 7 T will be presented. Methods: Eight surface loop coils with a dimension ofurn:x-wiley:00942405:media:mp7176:mp7176-math-0001 were machined from FR4 circuit board material. To facilitate easy positioning, two coil clusters, each with four loop elements, were combined to one RF transmit/receive array. An overlapped and shifted arrangement of the coil elements was chosen to reduce the mutual inductance between neighboring coils. A phantom made of body-simulating liquid was used for tuning and matching on the bench. Afterward, the S-parameters were verified on a human wrist, elbow, and shoulder. For safety validation, a detailed compliance test was performed including full wave simulations of the RF field distribution and the corresponding specific absorption rate (SAR) for all joints. In vivo images of four volunteers were assessed with gradient echo and spin echo sequences modified to obtain optimal image contrast, full anatomic coverage, and the highest spatial resolution within a reasonable acquisition time. The performance of the RF coil was additionally evaluated by in vivo B1 mapping. Results: A comparison of B1 per unit power, flip angle distribution, and anatomic images showed a fairly homogeneous excitation for the smaller joints (elbow, wrist, and ankle), while for the larger joints, the shoulder and especially the knee, B1 inhomogeneities and limited penetration depth were more pronounced. However, the greater part of the shoulder joint could be imaged.In vivo images rendered very fine anatomic details such as fascicles of the median nerve and the branching of the nerve bundles. High-resolution images of cartilage, labrum, and tendons could be acquired. Additionally, turbo spin echo (TSE) and inversion recovery sequences performed very well. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the concept of two four-channel transmit/receive RF arrays can be used as a multipurpose coil for high-resolutionin vivo MR imaging of the musculoskeletal system at 7 T. Not only gradient echo but also typical clinical and SAR-intensive sequences such as STIR and TSE performed well. Imaging of small structures and peripheral nerves could in particular benefit from this technique.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{OrzadaMaderwaldPoseretal.2010,
  author    = {Orzada, Stephan and Maderwald, Stefan and Poser, Benedikt Andreas and Bitz, Andreas and Quick, Harald H. and Ladd, Mark E.},
  title     = {RF excitation using time interleaved acquisition of modes (TIAMO) to address B1 inhomogeneity in high-field MRI},
  series = {Magnetic Resonance in Medicine},
  volume    = {64},
  journal   = {Magnetic Resonance in Medicine},
  number    = {2},
  publisher = {Wiley-Liss},
  address   = {New York},
  issn      = {1522-2594},
  doi       = {10.1002/mrm.22527},
  pages     = {327 -- 333},
  year      = {2010},
  abstract  = {As the field strength and, therefore, the operational frequency in MRI is increased, the wavelength approaches the size of the human head/body, resulting in wave effects, which cause signal decreases and dropouts. Several multichannel approaches have been proposed to try to tackle these problems, including RF shimming, where each element in an array is driven by its own amplifier and modulated with a certain (constant) amplitude and phase relative to the other elements, and Transmit SENSE, where spatially tailored RF pulses are used. In this article, a relatively inexpensive and easy to use imaging scheme for 7 Tesla imaging is proposed to mitigate signal voids due to B1 field inhomogeneity. Two time-interleaved images are acquired using a different excitation mode for each. By forming virtual receive elements, both images are reconstructed together using GRAPPA to achieve a more homogeneous image, with only small SNR and SAR penalty in head and body imaging at 7 Tesla.},
  language  = {en}
}