A growing number of patients with metallic implants are subjected to MRI exams, but a patient-specific heating risk assessment is not easily available. After a frequency analysis of databases collecting prosthetic patients data, a heating risk assessment, based on existing standards for RF fields and recent scientific studies for switching gradient coil fields, is performed. Results show that the whole body SAR estimation provided by the MRI scanner is not a self-reliant safety index for patients with metallic implants and suggest the need for a general procedure involving both RF and gradient coil fields induced heating.
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