Travelling-wave excitation for 16.4T small-bore MRI

In this paper, we present the design of a probe for a travelling-wave 16.4T small-bore animal research MRI system. The probe is a 698-MHz coaxially-fed microstrip patch designed to give a circularly polarized magnetic field when placed in the bore cavity. Images of a water phantom using the patch probe are obtained and compared with simulations. Additionally, a periodic axial strip cylinder is inserted into the bore, resulting in a 7-fold increase in SNR, and enabling both gradient recalled echo and spin echo imaging of the phantom. The modified mode content in the image is compared to full-wave simulations.