Purpose An innovative radio‐frequency (RF) coil design that allows RF currents both at the Larmor frequency and in a wireless communication band to flow on the same coil is proposed to enable simultaneous MRI signal reception and wireless data transfer, thereby minimizing the number of wired connections in the scanner without requiring any modifications or additional hardware within the scanner bore. Methods As a first application, the proposed integrated RF/wireless coil design was further combined with an integrated RF/shim coil design to perform not only MR image acquisition and wireless data transfer, but also localized B0 shimming with a single coil. Proof‐of‐concept phantom experiments were conducted with such a coil to demonstrate its ability to simultaneously perform these three functions, while maintaining the RF performance, wireless data integrity, and B0 shimming performance. Results Performing wirelessly controlled shimming of localized B0 inhomogeneities with the coil substantially reduced the B0 root‐mean‐square error (>70%) and geometric distortions in echo‐planar images without degrading the image quality, signal‐to‐noise ratio (<1.7%), or wireless data throughput (maximum variance = 0.04 Mbps) of the coil. Conclusions The RF/wireless coil design can provide a solution for wireless data transfer that can be easily integrated into existing MRI scanners for a variety of applications.

Purpose: To develop a wireless integrated parallel reception, excitation, and shimming (iPRES-W) coil array for simultaneous imaging and wireless localized B 0 shimming, and to demonstrate its ability to correct for distortions in DTI of the spinal cord in vivo.Methods: A 4-channel coil array was modified to allow an RF current at the Larmor frequency and a direct current to flow on each coil element, enabling imaging and localized B 0 shimming, respectively. One coil element was further modified to allow additional RF currents within a wireless communication band to flow on it to wirelessly control the direct currents for shimming, which were supplied from a battery pack within the scanner bore. The RF signals for imaging were transferred via conventional wired connections. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the RF, B 0 shimming, and wireless performance of this coil design. Results:The coil modifications did not degrade the SNR. Wireless localized B 0 shimming with the iPRES-W coil array substantially reduced the B 0 RMSE (−57.5% on average) and DTI distortions in the spinal cord. The antenna radiation efficiency, antenna gain pattern, and battery power consumption of an iPRES-W coil measured in an anechoic chamber were minimally impacted by the introduction of a saline phantom representing tissue. Conclusion:The iPRES-W coil array can perform imaging and wireless localized B 0 shimming of the spinal cord with no SNR degradation, with minimal change in wireless performance and without any scanner modifications or additional antenna systems within the scanner bore.

A 4-channel power harvesting coil array was developed to allow the energy emitted from RF transmit pulses within the scanner bore during imaging to be converted into DC voltage pulses for recharging MR-compatible batteries, regardless of the scan parameters or imaging pulse sequence. Proof-of-concept experiments in a phantom show that this power harvesting coil array was able to provide energy to a battery during GRE image acquisition for various flip angles and additionally during GRE-EPI, DTI, and MPRAGE image acquisitions.