The present invention provides a radio frequency (RF) coil (140) for applying an RF field to an examination space (116) of a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging system (110) and/or for receiving MR signals from the examination space (116), whereby the RF coil (140) is provided having a tubular body (142), the RF coil (140) is segmented in a longitudinal direction (154) of the tubular body (142) into two coil segments (146), and the two coil segments (146) are spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction (144) of the tubular body (142), whereby a gap (148) is formed between the two coil segments (146). The present invention further provides a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging system (110) comprising at least one radio frequency (RF) coil (140) as specified above. The present invention still further provides a medical system (200) comprising the above magnetic resonance (MR) imaging system (110) and a medical device (202), which is arranged to access to the examination space (116) of the magnetic resonance (MR) imaging system (110) through the gap (148) of the RF coil (140). Even further, the present invention provides a method for applying a radio frequency (RF) field to an examination space (116) of a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging system (110), comprising the steps of providing at least one above radio frequency antenna device (140), and commonly controlling the two RF coil segments (146) to provide a homogenous B1 field within the examination space (116), in particular within the gap (148).
