# US 11,307,275 B2 · Array coil

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- Number: US 11,307,275 B2
- Document ID: US11307275B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/123,545
- Filed: 2018-09-06
- Published: 2019-03-07
- Granted: 2022-04-19
- Earliest claimed: 2017-09-07
- Assignees: Canon Medical Systems Corporation
- Applicants: Canon Medical Systems Corporation
- Inventors: Kazuya Okamoto
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11307275B2

## CPC

- G01R 33/3642: {Mutual coupling or decoupling of multiple coils, e.g. decoupling of a receive coil from a transmission coil, or intentional coupling of RF coils, e.g. for RF magnetic field amplification}
- G01R 33/34007: {Manufacture of RF coils, e.g. using printed circuit board technology; additional hardware for providing mechanical support to the RF coil assembly or to part thereof, e.g. a support for moving the coil assembly relative to the remainder of the MR system}
- G01R 33/34046: {Volume type coils, e.g. bird-cage coils; Quadrature bird-cage coils; Circularly polarised coils}
- G01R 33/34084: {implantable coils or coils being geometrically adaptable to the sample, e.g. flexible coils or coils comprising mutually movable parts}
- G01R 33/3415: comprising arrays of sub-coils {, i.e. phased-array coils with flexible receiver channels}
- G01R 33/365: {Decoupling of multiple RF coils wherein the multiple RF coils have the same function in MR, e.g. decoupling of a receive coil from another receive coil in a receive coil array, decoupling of a transmission coil from another transmission coil in a transmission coil array}
- G01R: MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES (indicating correct tuning of resonant circuits H03J3/12)

## Abstract

An array coil according to an embodiment includes a plurality of element coils, a first electrically-insulative coupler, and a second electrically-insulative coupler. Each of the plurality of element coils has a first fixation point and a second fixation point. The plurality of element coils are two-dimensionally arrayed in a first direction and a second direction while overlapping one another. The first electrically-insulative coupler is configured to couple together two or more of the first fixation points in the first direction. The second electrically-insulative coupler is configured to couple together two or more of the second fixation points in the first direction.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An array coil comprising:
a plurality of element coils each of which has a first fixation point and a second fixation point and which are two-dimensionally arrayed in a first direction and a second direction while overlapping one another;
a first electrically-insulative stick configured to couple together two or more of the plurality of first fixation points in the first direction, each of at least two of the two or more of the plurality of the first fixation points belonging to a different one of the plurality of element coils; and
a second electrically-insulative stick configured to couple together two or more of the plurality of second fixation points in the first direction, each of at least two of the two or more of the plurality of the second fixation points belonging to a different one of the plurality of element coils.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The array coil according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of element coils is a polygonal coil having even-numbered pivotable corners.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The array coil according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of element coils is a rectangular or hexagonal coil having pivotable corners.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The array coil according to claim 1, wherein the array coil is able to change a shape thereof into a circular cylindrical shape.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The array coil according to claim 1, wherein
each of the plurality of element coils is configured to include a pivot that changes an angle formed by two electrically-conductive members, and
the pivot insulatively connects the two electrically-conductive members.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The array coil according to claim 1, comprising:
two or more of the first electrically-insulative sticks; and
two or more of the second electrically-insulative sticks, wherein
the array coil further comprises:
a first member configured to couple together the two or more first electrically-insulative sticks; and
a second member configured to couple together the two or more second electrically-insulative sticks.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The array coil according to claim 1, wherein at least one selected from between the first electrically-insulative stick and the second electrically-insulative stick is configured to couple together two or more of the element coils that are positioned adjacent to one another in the second direction.

### Claim 8

An array coil comprising:
a plurality of element coils each of which has a first fixation point and a second fixation point and which are two-dimensionally arrayed in a first direction and a second direction while overlapping one another;
a first electrically-insulative coupler configured to couple together two or more of the plurality of first fixation points in different ones of the plurality of element coils in the first direction; and
a second electrically-insulative coupler configured to couple together two or more of the plurality of second fixation points in different ones of the plurality of element coils in the first direction, wherein at least one selected from between the first electrically-insulative coupler and the second electrically-insulative coupler is positioned in a region other than a region in which the plurality of element coils are arranged so as to overlap one another in the second direction.