title: An adjustable RF coil loading device.
abstract: This paper describes an adjustable loading device that can substitute for the tissue losses of various sized patients in a whole-body MR imager. It resembles a lowpass birdcage resonator but with resistors replacing the capacitors on the cylindrical surface. Power dissipated is a monotonic function of the total surface conductance of the loader. The loader can be used in conjunction with a low loss water filled phantom to measure signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). The impact on measured SNR due to screening by the loader and changing the phantom size or composition are also briefly discussed.
authors.affiliation: Applied Science Laboratory, General Electric Medical Systems, Waukesha, WI 53188.
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Hayes
mesh_terms: D016477:Artifacts; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008433:Mathematics; D008961:Models, Structural