7 Tesla body coil comparison study

In contrast to 7T brain studies, there is currently no widely available transmit/receive coil for the human body at 7T. Instead, most GUFI-sites either build their own coils or purchase commercial prototype coils. However, the individual coils often have very different designs, and the number of transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) elements also varies, which affects their transmission and reception characteristics. This makes comparative studies between different sites particularly challenging.

In a joint comparative study between the Erwin L. Hahn (ELH) Institute in Essen, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) in Erlangen, and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Berlin, we are currently examining eight different existing transmit-receive body coils with respect to their transmission and reception characteristics using a reproducible phantom setup.

For the Tx characteristics, we are interested in values relevant for practical in-vivo applications, including transmit efficiency, i.e., the achievable B1+ field amplitude for a given power, and the size of the excitation field along the head-foot direction. For the Rx characteristics, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and acceleration performance are of relevance.

In the long term, we hope that the insights gained from this study will contribute to the development of a standardized coil design.