Abstract #0109

Prediction of Peripheral Nerve Stimulation Thresholds of MRI Gradient Coils using Coupled Electromagnetic and Neurodynamic Simulations

Mathias Davids^1,2, Bastien Guérin^2,3, Axel vom Endt⁴, Lothar R. Schad¹, and Lawrence L. Wald^2,3,5

¹Computer Assisted Clinical Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany, ²Dept. of Radiology, A.A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States, ³Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, ⁴Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany, ⁵Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States

Peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS) has become the major limitation in many fast MRI sequences for state-of-the-art gradient systems. We present the first (to our knowledge) full PNS model for assessing magnetostimulation thresholds and a method to incorporate these thresholds as constraints in the coil-winding design phase. Our model consists of comprehensive female and male body models for EM simulations, co-registered atlases of peripheral nerves, and a neurodynamic model describing the nerve responses to induced electric fields. We validated our framework based on three commercial MR gradient systems and found close resemblance between simulated thresholds and experimentally obtained group PNS thresholds.

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