Patent ID: 8035384

Claim:
A radio frequency (RF) coil for a magnetic resonance imaging system, the RF coil comprising: a plurality of rungs disposed around a volume; a first end ring connected to a first end of the plurality of rungs, the first end ring comprising a first plurality of birdcage mode tuning capacitors and a first plurality of passive RF traps, each passive RF trap in the first plurality of passive RF traps being connected in series with a respective birdcage mode tuning capacitor in the first plurality of birdcage mode tuning capacitors; a second end ring connected to a second end of the plurality of rungs, the second end ring comprising a second plurality of birdcage mode tuning capacitors and a second plurality of passive RF traps, each passive RF trap in the second plurality of passive RF trap being connected in series with a respective birdcage mode tuning capacitor in the second plurality of birdcage mode turning capacitors; an RF shield disposed around the plurality of rungs, the first end ring and the second end ring; a plurality of transverse electromagnetic (TEM) mode tuning capacitors each TEM mode tuning capacitor coupled to one of the plurality of rungs; and a third plurality of RF traps, each RF trap in the third plurality of RF traps coupled to one of the plurality of TEM mode tuning capacitors and the RF shield.