John A. Jallal1, John A. Nyenhuis2, Sung Min Park1
1Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA; 2Purdue University , West Lafayette, IN, USA
RF-induced heating of tissue surrounding implanted medical devices can occur during MRI scans due to device interactions with the B1 magnetic field. The present method for determining local SAR in RF-induced heating tests is calorimetry, in which temperature rise is measured in the phantom with no implant. A standard implant consisting of a 1/8 x 10 cm titanium rod has been developed to measure local SAR, for which the temperature rise at the ends is measured and compared with calculation to determine the local SAR. This new method provides improved accuracy and is faster than calorimetry.