Peripheral Nervous Stimulation (PNS) has become an important limitation in MRI with the latest generation of high-performance gradient systems. We present – to our knowledge for the first time – a model to predict PNS thresholds for arbitrary coil geometries. Our model consists of an accurate body model for EM simulations, a detailed nerve atlas of the human body, and a numerical model to predict nerve responses to induced electrical fields. With this model, we were able to reproduce PNS threshold curves of two leg/arm solenoid coils that were previously evaluated experimentally. We intent to use this PNS model to design high-performance gradient coils with significantly lowered PNS capabilities.
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