Development of an Automated Workflow for stream-function based B0 Shim Coil Design and Experimental Integration with RF Coils at 7T

Motivation: To enhance B0 field homogeneity at 7T, we developed an automated B0 shim coil design workflow. Goal(s): The goal is to validate the feasibility of this workflow regarding field generation and impact on RF coils. Approach: We acquired a series of B0 maps by driving each channel with varying inputs, fitting these maps to simulated results. Additionally, SNR and B1+ maps were obtained for the RF coil with shim coil. Results: The fitting results indicate effective shim field generation from the dense wire pattern, while the SNR and B1+ maps show a slightly degraded in RF performance without tuning and optimization. Impact: The automated workflow provides a feasible and practical approach for B0 shim coil design. Proposed brain shim coil will facilitate imaging sequences limited by field inhomogeneities. Future investigations could migrate to spine or heart shim coil design with this workflow.