Janot Tokaya1, A.J.E. Raaijmakers1, J.F. Bakker2, P.R. Luijten1, and C.A.T. van den Berg1
Tissue heating induced by
sharply peaked scattered electric fields at the tip of elongated implants is a
severe safety hazard refraining patients with active implants from undergoing
MRI examinations. Transfer functions (TFs) are widely used in modern safety
standards to assess implant safety. Currently, dedicated setups are required to
determine TFs in challenging and time consuming experiments. We introduce a new
experimental technique based on the principle of reciprocity and exploiting the
ability to map induced currents with MRI. The proposed method can accurately
determine TFs with high spatial resolution in a single, quick and relatively
simple measurement. It furthermore has the potential to be applied in
heterogeneous media allowing safety assessment in more realistic scenarios
where the conventional methods become inapplicable.
