A low pass RF ladder coil, which is named as a millipede surface coil, comprises a first and a second conductor end strips running parallel to each other. A set of rung elements are placed between them, alternate rung elements are connected to the first and second strip respectively. The number and spacing of the rung elements are sufficient for resonating the coil at the desired imaging frequency. This millipede surface coil may have 100 or more rung elements. Fixed and variable capacitors are provided for separately tuning and matching the first and second mode resonant frequencies, and for coupling and impedance matching the two modes to external circuits. An active detuning is provided that detunes the ladder coil when a separate RF coil is transmitting.