The present invention relates to a design of a radiofrequency (RF) receive coil (also commonly referred to as an imaging coil) for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a vertical field MRI system of a patients breast region. The design described herein generally includes a housing that includes two coil cups. The coil housing will generally encase the coil elements. In general, the breast coil of certain embodiments of the invention will include loop elements surrounding each side of each of the coil cups, a saddle element at the bottom of each cup, and an element that spans the width of the coil, wrapping at least partially up both sides of the coil. It is foreseen that further embodiments of the breast coil design may include additional elements.
