To demonstrate feasibility of using the previously proposed method [1-4] of SERIAL excitation with a PARALLEL receive array to mitigate power deposition and non-uniform image intensity across the human brain at 9.4 Tesla.Imaging was performed at 9.4 Tesla (GE Medical Systems Oxford, Abingdon, UK) using FDA and IRB approved protocols. Shimming was performed using sodium imaging with a quadrature radiofrequency (RF) coil. Human proton imaging used 3D and 2D FLASH sequences within the FDA guideline for specific absorption rate (SAR). Using our version of previously proposed SERIAL methods [1-4], the array consisted of 4 single loop RF surface coils (4” diameter) equally spaced around the circumference of a circular plastic tube (10” diameter). The 8-coil array consisted of two rings of 4 coils separated (12cm) on each side of isocenter. Customized electronics controlled by modified FLASH pulse sequences transmitted power from a single RF power amplifier to each surface coil in serial fashion while decoupling the other coils during excitation. All coils were active at the receive stage using commercial 4-channel receive electronics (Bruker Biospin, Billerica, MA). This configuration allowed excitation to be performed sequentially with each coil but receive on all 4 loops simultaneously. Data from the four receive channels were assembled as 16 virtual coils: 4 transmit coils (SERIAL transmit mode) x 4 receive coils (PARALLEL receive mode). Images were reconstructed by the generalized total variation (TGV) SENSE method. Specifically, a virtual volume-coil image was created by omitting the signal received from the excitation coil, which shows satisfactory homogeneity to allow estimation of the sensitivities of each channel. In the SENSE reconstruction, the sparsity constraint was enforced on the generalized total variation [5] and the resulting optimization problem was solved using the method in [5].Representative images obtained from 3D axial (Figure 1) and 2D (Figure 2) FLASH SERIAL acquisitions of the human brain with a right parietal tumor and normal volunteer, respectively. The power levels were below 5% of the maximum SAR limit for body weight. The shimming achieved typically a full width half maximum signal intensity of 35Hz for the sodium signal on a human head.Despite the non-uniformity of the excitation profile of each surface coil, acceptably uniform image intensity and gray-white matter contrast across a human brain well below the SAR guidelines at 9.4T have been achieved with both 3D and 2D FLASH sequences using SERIAL excitation and parallel receive mode with the TGV SENSE reconstruction method. Only a single excitation RF power amplifier was required. SERIAL excitation has a time penalty as the acquisition time increases by the number of excitation coils. However acquisition times may be reduced with multi-band techniques. These ¹H images can provide anatomy to support the interpretation of metabolic images derived from other nuclei such as ²³Na and ¹⁷O. Although now accessible at ultra high field, these metabolic images remain at lower spatial resolution than ¹H images.SERIAL imaging combined with TGV SENSE reconstruction methods is a cost effective means of combining a single RF power amplifier with phase array reception to remove SAR restrictions and mitigate B1 non-uniformity for safe human brain imaging at ultra high field (9.4T). The use of non-proton (sodium) imaging operating at lower frequencies allows efficient B₀ shimming with a homogeneous B₁ volume coil. Combining ¹H and X-nuclei imaging can provide both anatomy and metabolic information while improving the technical quality of both proton and non-proton images.