Patent ID: 8198895

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a plurality of magnetic resonance (MR) coil elements; a plurality of voltage-actuated switches coupled to the plurality of MR coil elements, each voltage-actuated switch configured to selectively activate a respective MR coil element; a voltage source configured to supply a voltage to the plurality of voltage-actuated switches; a control unit coupled to the voltage source; and a plurality of transmission lines comprising a plurality of low-conductivity resistive traces free of discrete resistors coupled to the plurality of voltage-actuated switches and to the control unit and configured to provide an actuation signal from the voltage source to the plurality of voltage-actuated switches, the plurality of transmission lines being free of discrete resistive elements and having a substantially uniform resistivity such that an interaction between the plurality of transmission lines and the plurality of MR coil elements is minimized and thermal dissipation is distributed over a length of each of the plurality of transmission lines.