A 128-channel head coil array for cortical imaging at 7 Tesla

Human fMRI studies with single shot acquisitions have recently broken the 1 mm isotropic resolution barrier, but resolutions surpassing 0.5 mm are needed to approach the biological limits of fMRI resolution [1] [2] . Although zoomed imaging techniques [3] can help with the spatial encoding [4] [5] , larger regions are needed for a more complete view of cortical architecture, requiring higher SNR than current receive coils (Rx) can achieve. Therefore, a customized tight fitting 128-channel receive head-only coil array, along with a newly developed head-gradient insert (Gmax=200 mT/m, Smax= 900 mT/m/s) was designed, simulated and constructed to fit a recently installed customized 7T Terra system (Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Germany) at UC Berkeley, US.