Piecing Coils Together: A Wearable Modular Head Coil Design

Motivation: RF coil arrays with many channels offer higher SNR when arranged closely to the anatomy. Production of high-density RF coil arrays is challenging due to cabling and decoupling problems. Goal(s): To create a modular design for array elements with reduced complexity, and test it in a 64-channel head coil setup. Approach: 64 shielded-loop-resonators (SLRs) were constructed and arranged on elastic head cap without geometric decoupling; bench test and MRI measurements were performed. Results: The head coil array offered up to 25% higher SNR at the periphery compared to commercial 64-channel coil, while up to 30 % lower central SNR in a head phantom. Impact: The concept of a wearable and flexible modular coil arrays is demonstrated, where the elements are positioned together without any geometric adjustment or decoupling electronics. The modular design simplifies coil array construction and offers more flexibility in anatomical coverage.