Hardware and Procedure for Testing and Evaluation of a pTx 16-Element Transmit/ 32-Element Receive Array Coils at 9.4T.

Motivation: Parallel transmission (pTx) is a very useful method for minimizing peak SAR and RF field inhomogeneity at UHF. To simplify the design, individual elements of pTx RF arrays are connected directly to scanner plugs and not easily accessible. In addition, in the case of a Tx-only/Rx-only (ToRo) setup, safety regulations require testing the Tx-only array without Rx-array. Goal(s): To develop testing hardware and procedure for adjusting and evaluating pTx 16-channel Tx/32-channel Rx 9.4T array coils. Approach: Electronic hardware and procedure was designed, constructed, and tested. Results: The hardware was constructed and successfully used in development of the pTx 16Tx/32Rx human head ToRo-array coil. Impact: We developed testing hardware and procedure for pTx-coils and used them in development of the human head ToRo-array. The developed hardware allows testing any pTx 9.4T RF coil with Rx-channel count up to 32 and Tx-channel count up to 16.