Built-In Coil Current Sensing for 7-Tesla 1H/23Na and 1H/31P Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Abstract

This article introduces two designs for dual-tuned built-in radio-frequency coil current sensing in 7-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging based on the current forcing property of the quarter-wave transmission line. The first design offers dual-tuned built-in coil current sensing at ¹H/²³Na resonant frequencies to probe the coil current consecutively at 298 MHz and 78.8 MHz, without the need for any integrated sensor on the coil. The second design enables dual-tuned built-in coil current sensing at ¹H/³¹P resonant frequencies to probe the coil current at 298 MHz and 120 MHz consecutively. The first design achieved good matching (<-40 dB) and low insertion loss (<0.5 dB) for ¹H and ²³Na magnetic resonance signals. The ¹H/³¹P design also exhibited good matching (<-30 dB) and low insertion loss (<0.67 dB). Therefore, both designs show promising potential for monitoring current flows in dual-tuned coils at the Larmor frequencies of different atomic nuclei.