Improving homogeneity in abdominal imaging at 3 T with light, flexible, and compact metasurface

PURPOSE Radiofrequency field inhomogeneity is a significant issue in imaging large fields of view in high- and ultrahigh-field MRI. Passive shimming with coupled coils or dielectric pads is the most common approach at 3 T. We introduce and test light and compact metasurface, providing the same homogeneity improvement in clinical abdominal imaging at 3 T as a conventional dielectric pad. METHODS The metasurface comprising a periodic structure of copper strips and parallel-plate capacitive elements printed on a flexible polyimide substrate supports propagation of slow electromagnetic waves similar to a high-permittivity slab. We compare the metasurface operating inside a transmit body birdcage coil to the state-of-the-art pad by numerical simulations and in vivo study on healthy volunteers. RESULTS Numerical simulations with different body models show that the local minimum of B1+ causing a dark void in the abdominal domain is removed by the metasurface with comparable resulting homogeneity as for the pad with decreasing maximum and whole-body SAR values. In vivo results confirm similar homogeneity improvement and demonstrate the stability to body mass index. CONCLUSION The light, flexible, and inexpensive metasurface can replace a relatively heavy and expensive pad based on the aqueous suspension of barium titanate in abdominal imaging at 3 T.