Low-Field MR Coils: Comparison between Strip and Wire Conductors

This work describes how the cross-sectional shape of radio-frequency coil conductors affects coils performance. This is of particular importance at low Larmor frequencies such as those of low-field magnetic resonance imaging systems where conductor and capacitor losses are the dominant power dissipation mechanisms. We demonstrate that conductors having a circular cross section allow the coil to achieve significantly better performance than the one built using flat strips. The change in coil quality factor due to conductor geometry was verified to be due only to changes in the conductors’ resistance and not their inductance. The results are not limited to low-field proton imaging but they are equally applicable to other situations where the Larmor frequency is in the megahertz range, including nuclear magnetic resonance of other nuclear species at intermediate fields.