Paul R. Harvey1, Zhiyong Zhai2, Michael Morich2, Giel Mens1, Gert van Yperen1, Gordon DeMeester2, Ingmar Graesslin3, Romhild Hoogeveen1
1Philips Healthcare, Best, Netherlands; 2Philips Healthcare, Cleveland, USA; 3Philips Research Europe, Hamburg, Germany
The dielectric properties of human tissue influence the RF uniformity that is achievable in MRI. Clinical 3.0T MRI systems capable of MultiTransmit RF technology have recently been introduced. Electromagnetic (EM) simulations have been used to evaluate the relationship between whole-body SAR, local SAR and head SAR as a function of patient and anatomy specific uniformity optimized RF shim settings. Results indicate that improved RF uniformity is consistent with reduced SAR thereby enabling shorter scan times in cases where SAR is limiting.