Effects of tuning conditions on near field of MRI transmit birdcage coil at 64 MHz

This study investigates how the tuning conditions of a 64 MHz / 1.5 T radio frequency (RF) birdcage coil modeled with an RF circuit and 3D electromagnetic co-simulation affect the electric and magnetic near-field distribution. Four models were implemented with different tuning conditions and difference between numerical results and measurements was evaluated. The results show that the simulated near-field depends significantly on coil tuning conditions, especially in volumes close to the ASTM phantom walls. Further extensive evaluations should be conducted to cover proper match between measurement and numerical results. © 2016 IEEE.