Coil Sensitivity Estimation with Perturbing Sphere Method: Application to 13C Birdcages

Radiofrequency coils in magnetic resonance systems are used to irradiate nuclear spins and to pick up the signals emitted by the nuclei with high signal-to-noise ratio and large sensitivity region. The quality of the obtained images strongly depends upon the coil performance. When used at low frequencies, a number of drawbacks arise that drastically reduce their overall performances. In this work, we describe and verify the accuracy of a coil sensitivity estimation method based on the perturbing sphere theory which permits characterization of coil performance in a short time and that can be useful for periodical coil quality controls. In particular, we describe the application of the method by testing two 13C birdcage coils tuned at 32.13 MHz and verifying its accuracy using theoretical and experimental approaches.