A coil assembly for MR imaging includes an RF coil element and a shim coil array with a shim coil element. The shim coil element is physically separated from the RF coil element. The shim coil element includes a DC current loop having a DC power supply connection to allow DC current to generate a local B0 magnetic field. The coil assembly simultaneously provides an RF mode for at least one of transmit or receive and a direct current mode to generate a local B0 magnetic field for at least one of B0 shimming an imaging space, MRI spatial encoding of tissue spins, or MRI temporal encoding of tissue spins. The mutual inductance between the shim coil element and the RF coil element is minimized by configuration of blocking elements in the shim coil in order to minimize the RF interaction there between.
