The phased array coils operate typically as receive only coils. In that case, the in the MRI device implemented body coil act as the transmitter and sends the radio frequency energy to generate the excitation pulses. State-of-the-art array coil systems include the use of 4 (up to 32) coils with separate receivers. This method is often referred to as a phased array system, although the signals are not added such that the signal phase information is included. The use of phased array coils allows the decreasing of the number of signal averages, which shortens the scan time by high SNR and resolution.
High-sensitivity RF surface coils and digital processing algorithms have been developed that speed up image acquisition and reconstruction during the MRI scan.
Fast parallel imaging techniques, for example sensitivity encoding (SENSE), 'Partially Parallel Imaging with Localized Sensitivity' (PILS), Simultaneous Acquisition of Spatial Harmonics (SMASH) or Array Spatial Sensitivity Encoding Technique (ASSET) use phased array multichannel coils to further improve spatial and temporal resolution. The sensitivity profile of a phased array coil element is measured by a separate low resolution 3D acquisition over the entire field of view in the case of a SENSE acquisition. For an mSENSE measurement, a self-calibration acquires some of the missing lines in the center of the k-space.
Also called linear array coil or synergy surface coil.

See also the related poll result: '3rd party coils are better than the original manufacturer coils'

From GE Healthcare;
The GE Signa HDx MRI system is a whole body magnetic resonance scanner designed to support high resolution, high signal to noise ratio, and short scan times.
The 1.5T Signa HDx MR Systems is a modification of the currently marketed GE 1.5T machines, with the main difference being the change to the receive chain architecture that includes a thirty two independent receive channels, and allows for future expansion in 16 channel increments. The overall system has been improved with a simplified user interface and a single 23" liquid crystal display, improved multi channel surface coil connectivity, and an improved image reconstruction architecture known as the Volume Recon Engine (VRE).

Single turn solenoid is a transmit and receive RF imaging coil that, in general, has a cylindrical shape. The solenoidal configuration of this coil is a further developed planar surface coil. While surface coils have a strong coupling and high signal to noise ratio to nearby signals they have a marked loss of signal beyond one radius from the center of the coil. With a solenoidal coil design the imaging object lies within one radius from the coil center, which improved imaging (of extremities, such as wrist or knee).

See also Radio Frequency Coil and Imaging of the Extremities.

Process by which regions of tissue are selectively sampled to produce spectra from defined volumes in space. These methods may be employed to sample a single region in space (single voxel method) or multiple regions simultaneously (multivoxel methods). The spatial selectivity can be achieved by a variety of methods including surface coils, surface coils in conjunction with RF gradient methods, or RF pulses in combination with switched magnetic field gradients, for example, volume-selective excitation. An indirect method of achieving spatial selectivity is the destruction of coherence of the magnetization in regions that lie outside the region of interest. A variety of spatial encoding schemes have been employed for multivoxel localization. See Chemical shift imaging.

Quick Overview

Missing or zero filled data in k-space can cause artifacts from anomalies to zebra stripes.

Change the sequence parameters or try to use a surface coil. If the problem persists, it must be addressed by a service representative.