MRI at 7 Tesla (T) and above opens the field for high resolution human imaging. In 7T musculoskeletal imaging, radiofrequency (RF) coil designs have recently been proposed to depict the shoulder joint^1,2. Here, high spatial resolution as well as high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are necessary to examine subtle pathologies like partial tears of the rotator cuff or tiny structures like ligaments as well as the very thin cartilage on a submillimeter scale. Transmit/receive (Tx/Rx) RF coils¹ can be used for spin excitation and for signal reception, yet, for optimum SNR and to achieve higher acceleration, local receive (Rx) coils³ enable further improvement of the imaging capabilities. Often, Tx/Rx switchboxes are utilized to connect Tx/Rx coils to the RF high power side during transmit and to the preamplifiers during reception. Consequently, these switchboxes are normally available at 7T sites when custom built RF coils are used. In this work, we present a 7ch Rx-only coil which is integrated into an existing 8ch Tx/Rx setup for shoulder imaging at 7T. A simple and cost efficient way of detuning the 7ch Rx coil during transmit is employed.Fabrication of the 7ch Rx coil was straightforward using only standard coil building parts (wire, capacitors, semi rigid cable, printed boards). A rounded PMMA housing was used to comfortably fit the arm and shoulder of the patient (Figure 1A). The loops were made of insulated copper wires and small printed boards (Figure 1B). By overlapping nearest neighbors, geometric decoupling was achieved which is supplemented by preamplifier decoupling. Cable traps (BalUn) were placed at each loop 1 cm away from the feeding point and at the end of the housing. Measurements were acquired on a 7T whole-body research system (Magnetom 7T, Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Erlangen, Germany). The hardware setup consisted of an 8ch Tx/Rx switchbox (switchbox 1) connected to the 8ch Tx/Rx shoulder coil with meander elements¹, and a second 8ch Tx/Rx switchbox (switchbox 2) connected to the 7ch Rx coil. Detuning of the 7ch Rx coil during transmit was accomplished by placing a short semi rigid cable with a variable trimming capacitor between inner and outer conductor at the transmit side of switchbox 2 (Figure 1C). This was evaluated on a phantom. Finally, 7T MRI in vivo measurements (healthy male volunteer, 32y, 79 kg, 178 cm) were performed using a clinical proton-density weighted TSE sequence with and without fat saturation.With a Q-ratio of 2.49 ± 0.07 the loops operate in the body-noise dominated regime. S-parameters (Figure 2A) measured on an average male volunteer (178 cm, 70 kg) resulted in an average reflection of Sxx = -16.3 ± 3.4 dB (maximum S22 = -13.4 dB) and an inter element coupling of Sxy = -17.1 ± 4.8 dB (maximum S37 = -9.6 dB). For the 7ch Rx coil preamp decoupling of 8.5 ± 0.7 dB allowed for additional decoupling while reception and a detuning of 9.8 ± 0.7 dB was achieved by the chosen detuning strategy using trimmers on the transmit side of switchbox 2. The noise correlation matrix (Figure 2B) indicates a maximum of 0.43 for channel 6 and 7. To quantify the SNR gain (Figure 3), SNR maps using both coils for reception were divided by SNR maps acquired with the 8ch Tx/Rx coil only. A factor of 2 was obtained in the humeral head by adding the 7ch Rx coil elements. A comparison of the maximum g-factor values for an acceleration of R = 2 (with/without 7ch Rx coil) yielded 1.57/2.14 in the anterior-posterior, 1.46/2.16 in the head-feet and 1.95/2.16 in left-right direction. The phase encoding directions were aligned according to the anatomy of the volunteer and less according to the placement of the coil elements. Proton-density weighted TSE sequences with and without fat saturation showed enhanced image quality in coronal, transversal and sagittal slice orientation with improvement in signal intensity of several structures (Figure 4). Imaging of pathologies like partial muscle tears or early stages of fatty atrophy can expectedly be improved when using the Rx coil.A 7ch low cost Rx array for 7T has been presented which allows for further improvement of high resolution examinations of the shoulder with clinically acceptable image quality. External detuning via a custom built 8ch Tx/Rx switchbox is possible and allows for a detuning of about -10 dB. This setup paves the way to conduct clinical shoulder studies on a 7T system with diagnostic image quality.