Patent ID: 7345485

Claim:
A local coil system for MRI imaging comprising: a local coil freely movable with respect to a MRI machine and having: (i) a support structure positionable adjacent to a patient; (ii) at least one resonant electrical loop antenna attached to the support structure for receiving NMR electrical signals from the patient; (iii) a first electrical connector attached to the support structure and receiving the NMR electrical signals; (iv) a second electrical connector repeatedly and reversibly electrically and mechanically connectable to and disconnected from the first electrical connector to receive the NMR electrical signals therefrom, the second electrical connector having a photomodulator converting the NMR electrical signals to optical signals; and (v) an optical cable attached at a first end to the photomodulator to receive the optical signals; and (vi) a photo demodulator attached to a second end of the optical cable for receiving the optical signals and converting them back to NMR electrical signals for communication to an MRI machine.