A Double-Layer 1H/23Na Transceiver Array for Human Brain MRI at 7T.

With the increasing adoption of ultra-high-field (UHF) systems, sodium (23Na) imaging is undergoing clinical translation. However, existing commercially available dual-tuned coils, while demonstrating adequate sodium signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), fail to meet the requirements for high-resolution proton (1H) structural imaging, resulting in suboptimal workflow efficiency during integrated multi-nucleus examinations. In this work, we present a novel double-layer 1H/23Na transceiver array with eight channels per nucleus for human brain MRI at 7T. The proposed array achieved 64% of the 1H SNR of the 32-channel receive array commonly used in clinical practice. By integrating dual-nucleus imaging capabilities within a single platform, this design eliminates coil-switching requirements and post-acquisition registration, thereby streamlining clinical workflows and advancing sodium MRI translational feasibility.