Radio frequency receiver array for magnetic resonance imaging

A method for operating a radio frequency (RF) receiver array, the method comprising:

• providing a plurality of receiver coil elements for receiving magnetic resonance signals from at least a portion of a target region;
• providing a plurality of on-board digital receiver circuits for processing the received magnetic resonance signals, each of the on-board digital receiver circuits comprising an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for on-coil digitization of the magnetic resonance signal;
• providing a plurality of signal lines configured and arranged to carry data between each of the on-board digital receiver circuits and a receiving unit, wherein the ASIC comprises at least one on-chip capacitor for each signal line of the plurality of signal lines for providing a capacitive communication between the on-board digital receiver circuit and the receiving unit, wherein the on-chip capacitor is disposed in series with the signal line, eliminating an RF cable trapping requirement;
• receiving the magnetic resonance signals from at least a portion of the target region using at the plurality of receiver coil elements of the RF receiver array;
• converting the magnetic resonance signals to a digital signals by ASICs of the plurality of on-board digital receiver circuits of the RF receiver array;
• and
• sending the digital data from each of the on-board digital receiver circuits over at least one signal line to the receiving unit.