Switchable mri rf coil array with individual coils having different and

Abstract

An array of plural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) RF coils is provided having different and overlapping fields of view. Controllable switches are connected with each individual coil of the array and are capable of selectively conditioning any one of the coils for individual usage in an MRI procedure. Either mechanical or electrical (e.g., PIN diode) switching control may be utilized. Preferably, controllable electrical switches are located at points having approximately zero RF potential. Distributed capacitance is also preferably employed for reducing terminal inductance, preventing the establishment of spurious magnetic fields and facilitating the use of electrical switching diodes and/or varactor capacitance elements. Such distributed capacitances are also dimensioned so as to cause the terminal inductance of each coil to be within the tuning/matching range of a common tuning/matching RF circuit.