Patent ID: 7378848

Claim:
A modular coil system for use with an MR system having a main magnet and a gradient coil, the coil system including: a first RF coil module which includes a cryogenic RF coil carried by the first module and which at least one of excites magnetic resonance in MR active nuclei and receives magnetic resonance signals from MR active nuclei, wherein the cryogenic RF coil is configured for operation at a cryogenic temperature during the at least one of the excitation of magnetic resonance in the MR active nuclei and the reception of the magnetic resonance signals; first RF coil electrical circuitry carried by the first RF coil module and operatively electrically connected to the first RF coil; a second module which includes a sample receiving region; a sample support carried by the second module and which supports a sample in the sample receiving region; wherein the first RF coil module and the second module are selectively assembleable by a human user so as to form the coil system, wherein the coil system is selectively insertable by a human user in the examination region of the MR system for conducting an MR examination of the sample.