Petal resonator band coil

A band coil for surface magnetic resonance imaging was developed based on the principles of the petal resonator coil for brain imaging. This band-like receiver coil has similar geometry to magnetron diode mainly used in the microwave oven industry. This coil prototype is formed by small circles around a central circle: each loop together with its corresponding capacitor forms a resonant circuit. High signals can be acquired from specific regions of interest. It has the advantage that no overlap analysis is needed since coil petals do not extend over each other. The present configuration can easily fit the head shape. To theoretically investigate the coil signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), sensitivity maps for various radii were calculated and used as design guidelines. This coil prototype was tested on a clinical scanner, using standard fast spin-echo sequences. Phantom and brain images of healthy volunteers were obtained to show its viability and compatibility with clinical imagers.