title: 7 Tesla 22-channel wrap-around coil array for cervical spinal cord and brainstem imaging.
abstract: Increased signal-to-noise ratio and blood oxygenation level-dependent sensitivity at 7 Tesla (T) have the potential to enable high-resolution imaging of the human cervical spinal cord and brainstem. We propose a new two-panel radiofrequency coil design for these regions to fully exploit the advantages of ultra-high field.
  
  
  
  A two-panel array, containing four transmit/receive and 18 receive-only elements fully encircling the head and neck, was constructed following simulations demonstrating the B1+ and specific absorption rate (SAR) benefits of two-panel over one-panel arrays. This array was compared with a previously reported posterior-only array and tested for safety using a phantom. Its anatomical, functional, and diffusion MRI performance was demonstrated in vivo.
  
  
  
  The two-panel array produced more uniform B1+ across the brainstem and cervical spinal cord without compromising SAR, and achieved 70% greater receive sensitivity than the posterior-only array. The two-panel design enabled acceleration of R = 2 × 2 in two dimensions or R = 3 in a single dimension. High quality in vivo anatomical, functional, and diffusion images of the human cervical spinal cord and brainstem were acquired.
  
  
  
  We have designed and constructed a wrap-around coil array with excellent performance for cervical spinal cord and brainstem MRI at 7T, which enables simultaneous human cervical spinal cord and brainstem functional MRI. Magn Reson Med 78:1623-1634, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
authors.affiliation: Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.|Department of Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Bei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.|Department of Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.|Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Alan C
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7877-4813
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Seifert
authors.affiliation: Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.|Department of Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.|Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Joo-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.|Department of Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.|Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Borrello
authors.affiliation: Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.|Department of Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.|Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.|Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Junqian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D066193:Cervical Cord / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D059629:Signal-To-Noise Ratio
keywords: brainstem; cervical spinal cord; parallel imaging; passive 
  B1+ shimming; transmit-receive radio frequency coil array; ultra-high field (7T)