Eight-channel parallel transmit-receive system for 7 T MRI with optically controlled and monitored on-coil current-mode RF amplifiers.

Purpose: To demonstrate a practical implementation of an eight-channel parallel-transmit system for brain imaging at 7 T based on on-coil amplifier technology.

Methods: An eight-channel parallel transmit-receive system was built with optimized on-coil switch-mode current RF power amplifiers. The amplifiers were optically controlled from an eight-channel interface that was connected to a 7 T MRI scanner. The interface also optically received a down-converted version of the coil current sensed in each amplifier for monitoring and feedback adjustments.

Results: Each on-coil amplifier delivered more than 100 W peak power and provided enough amplifier decoupling (<-15 dB) for the implemented eight-channel array configuration. Phantom and human images were acquired to demonstrate practical operation of this new technology in a 7 T MRI scanner.

Conclusion: Further development and improvement of previously demonstrated on-coil technology led to successful implementation of an eight-channel parallel-transmit system able to deliver strong B fields for typical brain imaging applications. This is an important step forward toward implementation of on-coil RF amplification for high-field MRI.