Simulation of an 8-Channel Transmit Meander Stripline Array for Combined Head and Neck Imaging at 7 Tesla MRI

Motivation: Covering the head-neck region in UHF MRI is challenging due to the limited number of only 8 parallel transmission (pTx) channels available in most UHF MR systems. Goal(s): Our goal was to design and simulate an 8-channel pTx coil for combined head/neck imaging at 7T. Approach: A geometrical setup for MR imaging with modified stripline elements was investigated by simulating the B1+ efficiency in a heterogenous tissue model. Results: B1+ efficiency maxima of 0.31 μT/√W for head region and 0.13 μT/√W for neck region with SAR10g maximum of 1.21 W/kg for 1W stimulated input power per channel could be achieved. Impact: Meander stripline elements can be overlapped while showing only low coupling, allowing a good coverage of the head-neck area while only using 8 pTx elements in total.