Coil element decoupling for MRI

1. A radio frequency (RF) coil adjacent an imaging region, the RF coil comprising:

a plurality of conducting coil elements, each conducting coil element including a proximal portion and a distal portion, proximal and distal being relative to the imaging region; and

a capacitance between the distal portions of the at least two conducting coil elements;

wherein a mutual coupling inductance between at least two conducting coil elements of the plurality of conducting coil elements is substantially cancelled by the capacitance between the distal portions of the at least two conducting coil elements.

2. The RF coil of claim 1 , wherein the distal portion is generally parallel to the proximal portion.

3. The RF coil of claim 1 , wherein the capacitance between the distal portions of the at least two conducting coil elements includes a lumped capacitance.

4. The RF coil of claim 1 , wherein the capacitance between the distal portions of the at least two conducting coil elements includes a distributed capacitance.

5. The RF coil of claim 4 , further comprising:

a conducting member disposed generally parallel to and overlapping each of the distal portions of the at least two conducting coil elements;

wherein the distributed capacitance includes secondary distributed capacitances between the conducting member and each of the distal portions of the at least two conducting coil elements; and

wherein the distributed capacitance contributes substantially to the capacitance between the distal portions of the at least two conducting coil elements.

6. The RF coil of claim 5 , further comprising a dielectric material disposed between the conducting member and the distal portions of the at least two conducting coil elements.

7. The RF coil of claim 1 , wherein the proximal portions of the at least two conducting coil elements are not directly coupled by a lumped capacitance.

8. The RF coil of claim 1 , wherein the at least two of the plurality of conducting coil elements are driven with or receive independent currents.

9. The RF coil of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of conducting coil elements are driven with or receive a current independent of a remainder of the plurality of conducting coil elements.

10. The RF coil of claim 1 , wherein the coil bounds a cavity, the imaging region being within the cavity.

11. The RF coil of claim 10 , wherein the coil bounds a substantially cylindrical cavity.

12. The RF coil of claim 1 , wherein the imaging region is not bounded by the RF coil.

13. The RF coil of claim 12 , wherein the coil is generally flat.

14. The RF coil of claim 1 , wherein the mutual coupling inductance between the at least two conducting coil elements has a magnitude of less than 10%.

15. The RF coil of claim 1 , wherein the RF coil is a transmit and/or receive coil for a magnetic resonance imaging system.

16. A magnetic resonance imaging system, comprising

a superconducting magnet;

a gradient coil system; and

an RF coil adjacent an imaging region, the RF coil comprising a plurality of conducting coil elements, each conducting coil element including a proximal portion and a distal portion, proximal and distal being relative to the imaging region, and a capacitance between the distal portions of the at least two conducting coil elements; wherein a mutual coupling inductance between at least two of the plurality of conducting coil elements is substantially cancelled by the capacitance between the distal portions of the at least two conducting coil elements.

17. A method for balancing an RF imaging coil having a plurality of independent current elements, the method comprising the steps of:

selecting an RF imaging coil design to achieve specified imaging objectives;

identifying a pair of current elements of the plurality of independent current elements;

modifying distal portions of the pair of current elements to result in a reduced mutual coupling inductance between the pair of current elements below an acceptable threshold inductance value.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein selecting an RF imaging coil design includes selecting a design with a symmetry in the plurality of conducting elements, and further comprising the step of modifying distal portions of additional pairs of current elements of the plurality of independent current elements in a similar manner to the modifying the distal portions of the pair of current elements; wherein the symmetry in the plurality of conducting elements results in reduced mutual inductances between the additional pairs of current elements below the acceptable threshold inductance value.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein modifying the distal portions of the pair of current elements includes modifying a capacitance between the distal portions.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein modifying a capacitance between the distal portions includes increasing a distributed capacitance between the distal portions.