The effect of geometric parameters of the coil element in an array on signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and g factor of parallel imaging are analyzed, and the optimal parameters for the maximal SNR and minimal g factor are also given in this paper. In addition, the effects of coupling on SNR and g factor have been analyzed. The test results indicate that g factor for parallel imaging is greatly increased and SNR is decreased for coupling. According to the optimization, a six-channel parallel coil has been designed for torso imaging.