Parallel imaging performance investigation of an 8-channel common-mode differential-mode (CMDM) planar array for 7T MRI.

An 8-channel planar phased array was proposed based on the common-mode differential-mode (CMDM) structure for ultrahigh field MRI. The parallel imaging performance of the 8-channel CMDM planar array was numerically investigated based on electromagnetic simulations and Cartesian sensitivity encoding (SENSE) reconstruction. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of multichannel images combined using root-sum-of-squares (rSoS) and covariance weighted root-sum-of-squares (Cov-rSoS) at various reduction factors were compared between 8-channel CMDM array and 4-channel CM and DM array. The results of the study indicated the 8-channel CMDM array excelled the 4-channel CM and DM in SNR. The g-factor maps and artifact power were calculated to evaluate parallel imaging performance of the proposed 8-channel CMDM array. The artifact power of 8-channel CMDM array was reduced dramatically compared with the 4-channel CM and DM arrays demonstrating the parallel imaging feasibility of the CMDM array.