High‐resolution MRI of the carotid arteries using a leaky waveguide transmitter and a high‐density receive array at 7 T

A setup for 7T MRI of the carotid arteries in the neck was designed and constructed. Separate dedicated arrays were used for transmit and receive. For the transmit array, single‐side adapted dipole antennas were mounted on a dielectric pillow, which was shown to serve as a leaky waveguide, efficiently distributing B₁ into the neck. Risk assessment was performed by simulations. Phantom measurements were performed to establish optimal positions of the antennas on the pillow. Using two antennas, a dual transmit setup was created. In vivo B₁⁺ maps with different shim configurations were acquired to assess transmit performance. This effective transmit array was used in combination with a dedicated 30 channel small element receive coil. High‐resolution in vivo turbo spin echo images were acquired to demonstrate the excellent performance of the setup. Magn Reson Med 69:1186–1193, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.