Approaches to designing micro-solenoidal RF probes for 14 T MRI studies of millimeter-range sized objects

Full-wave electromagnetic simulations have been employed to analyze the design approaches that allow for solving the problems preventing inductive performance of micro-solenoidal RF probes and formation of strong and homogeneous magnetic fields inside probes at the studies of millimeter-range sized objects in 14 T MRI scanners. In particular, the effects of non-uniform coil wrapping on field homogeneity inside extended coils and of partitioning the coils by dielectric separators on coil self-resonances have been investigated. The possibility to utilize tunable C-C matching circuits with the coils and to mitigate the effects of sample insertion on the probe resonance frequency has been demonstrated. Challenges of coil fabrication have been also addressed.