A transmit and/or receive magnetic resonance imaging multi-element radio frequency coil comprising: multiple coil elements (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 17, 18, 19; 27, 28, 29) for parallel operation arranged about a cylindrical imaging space; each coil element (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 17, 18, 19; 27, 28, 29) comprising at least one sub-element (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 17, 18, 19; 270, 280, 290) forming a loop of oblong shape, characterized in that each sub-element (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 17, 18, 19; 270, 280, 290) comprises at least two mutually opposing long side flat conductor pieces (13, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 39, 41), each arranged in parallel with the cylinder axis of the cylindrical image space, the surfaces of said flat conductor pieces (13, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 39, 41) being tilted with respect to one another and being arranged such that the surface of one of the conductor pieces (13, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 39, 41) is aligned at a non-zero angle α relative to a local tangent (t) to the imaging space and the surface of another one of the conductor pieces (13, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 39, 41) is aligned at a non-zero angle being equal to -α relative to the local tangent (t) to the imaging space, that the multiple coil elements (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 17, 18, 19; 27, 28, 29) are spaced equi-angularly around the cylindrical imaging space with the angle between nearest neighbouring coil elements (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 17, 18, 19; 27, 28, 29) being 360°/N, where N is the number of coil elements (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 17, 18, 19; 27, 28, 29), and that the coil elements (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 17, 18, 19; 27, 28, 29) are mutually decoupled. multiple coil elements (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 17, 18, 19; 27, 28, 29) for parallel operation arranged about a cylindrical imaging space; each coil element (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 17, 18, 19; 27, 28, 29) comprising at least one sub-element (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 17, 18, 19; 270, 280, 290) forming a loop of oblong shape, characterized in that each sub-element (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 17, 18, 19; 270, 280, 290) comprises at least two mutually opposing long side flat conductor pieces (13, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 39, 41), each arranged in parallel with the cylinder axis of the cylindrical image space, the surfaces of said flat conductor pieces (13, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 39, 41) being tilted with respect to one another and being arranged such that the surface of one of the conductor pieces (13, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 39, 41) is aligned at a non-zero angle α relative to a local tangent (t) to the imaging space and the surface of another one of the conductor pieces (13, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 39, 41) is aligned at a non-zero angle being equal to -α relative to the local tangent (t) to the imaging space, that the multiple coil elements (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 17, 18, 19; 27, 28, 29) are spaced equi-angularly around the cylindrical imaging space with the angle between nearest neighbouring coil elements (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 17, 18, 19; 27, 28, 29) being 360°/N, where N is the number of coil elements (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 17, 18, 19; 27, 28, 29), and that the coil elements (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 17, 18, 19; 27, 28, 29) are mutually decoupled.