Grainger College of Engineering, All Events

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Candidate Seminar

Dr. Folk Narongrit

Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Monday, April 6, 2026, 11:00 am-12:00 pm

B02 CSL Auditorium or Online via Zoom

Title: Adaptive and Programmable RF Architectures for MRI: Beyond Rigid Coils and Narrowband Design

Abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging is a non-invasive imaging method that operates in the VHF band, but its RF hardware is often still based on rigid, narrowband, manually tuned coils. That becomes a limitation in ultra-high-field, multi-nuclear, and patient-specific imaging. The problem is especially relevant as demand grows in areas such as cancer and neurological disease. MRI RF hardware also has to be built from non-ferromagnetic materials and components, which places additional constraints on RF electronics and system design. Many of the same constraints appear in wearable sensors and other biomedical RF systems.

I will first introduce flexible and stretchable RF coils developed using flexible conductors on conformal substrates that adapt to individual anatomy while maintaining strong electromagnetic performance. I will then discuss how mechanical deformation changes the coil's response and calls for RF receive hardware beyond conventional fixed-tuned designs. I will present non-magnetic resonance detection and retuning methods, along with a wideband MRI receiver architecture for multi-nuclear imaging at 7 T. Finally, I will present my recent work on segmented, digitally programmable transmit architecture for wideband and multiband RF operation at 7 T MRI. By moving beyond fixed-frequency resonant designs, these systems enable frequency-agile transmission, intra-coil parallel transmit, and B1-field shimming. I will conclude with a broader direction for adaptive RF hardware that advances ultra-high-field brain imaging and also applies to wearable sensors and other biomedical systems that rely on RF.

Folk Narongrit is a Postdoctoral Scholar in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering and his M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Purdue University, and his M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California. His research focuses on radiofrequency and electromagnetic systems for magnetic resonance imaging, including digitally programmable transmitters, wideband and multinuclear RF hardware for MRI, and flexible and stretchable RF coils. Folk is the recipient of the IEEE MTT-S Research Fellowship in Medical Applications, the Young Engineering Prize from the European Microwave Association, and the King’s Fellowship from the Thai Government. He also received the Lamp Scholarship for Excellence in Teaching and the Bakar Innovation Fellowship for translating research toward commercialization. His work has also been recognized with best paper awards from ISMRM and IEEE.