A PET-MR apparatus includes an MR imaging system for acquiring MR signals and a PET system for acquiring PET emissions of the patient. The PET-MR apparatus also includes an anterior surface coil configured to receive MR signals from a volume-of-interest of the patient in the bore and resulting from the emitted RF pulse sequence and a coil positioning structure mounted to the PET-MR apparatus and configured to receive the anterior surface coil thereon and position the anterior surface coil proximate to the volume-of-interest of the patient without coming in contact with the patient, with the coil positioning structure being configured to provide both a vertical adjustment of the anterior surface coil relative to a coronal plane of the patient and an angular adjustment of the anterior surface coil relative to the coronal plane of the patient.