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Free keywords:
Antenna arrays; Biomedical imaging; Computational electromagnetics; RF safety
Abstract:
The influence of the accuracy level for whole-body birdcage coil models on electromagnetic exposure estimations was evaluated using three anatomical human body models located at the head landmark position. Both generic and vendor-specific birdcage coil models were created and analyzed using a radio-frequency (RF) circuit and a three-dimensional electromagnetic (EM) co-simulation approach to evaluate EM properties of the coil used in a commercial 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. The fidelity of the coil geometry and excitation, as well as consideration of permissible variations of the coil electrical components and capacitor losses, had a significant impact on the estimated electric field distributions inside the human models. Therefore, the variety of electric fields generated in humans should be carefully considered for a reliable RF safety assessment of a patient with a passive or active implant undergoing a scan in a modern MRI scanner with dual-channel transmit RF coils.
