Magnetic resonance receive coil with detune circuit and energy harvesting circuit

Abstract

The invention relates to a magnetic resonance receive coil including a resonator for use in a magnetic resonance imaging system. The radio frequency receive coil according to the invention comprises a first conducting element of the resonator having a conductive loop wherein the received signal is induced in that loop, configured to form a primary resonant circuit tunable to at least one first resonance frequency and a second conducting element of the resonator configured to form an electric circuit electrically insulated from and reactively coupled to the primary resonant circuit, the electric circuit being adapted to detune the primary resonant circuit to at least one second resonance frequency. The second conducting element of the resonator has a conductive loop with a pair of ends connected to a preamplifier. The radio frequency receive coil further comprises an energy harvesting circuit electrically coupled in parallel over the pair of ends of the second conducting element, wherein the energy harvesting circuit is adapted for being connected to the second conducting element during transmission by a switch. A rechargeable power source is coupled to the energy harvesting circuit, wherein the rechargeable power source is adapted for being charged by the energy harvesting circuit. A switching component is circuited in parallel to the energy harvesting circuit, wherein is adapted to redirect a current as soon as the rechargeable power source is charged to a sufficient voltage. In this way, a magnetic resonance receive coil with a detune circuit and an energy harvesting circuit for energy harvesting is provided without a significant loss of detuning performance.