Speaker
Description
The aim of this work is to assess the impact of face-down, or prone, posture during MR examination on the RF-induced heating of medical implants. As face-down postures during MR examination, used for breast as well as some wrist and elbow imaging scenarios, may lead to different induced electrical field distributions, the resulting RF-induced power deposition may also change dramatically. To quantify the associated uncertainty, the Virtual Population anatomical model Ella was modified to incorporate prone breast tissues and posed with one or both arms raised above the head, with the head positioned close to the bore wall. The induced electrical fields and corresponding Tier 3 power depositions are compared to supine Ella for generic pacemakers, deep brain stimulators (DBS), and cochlear implants. The results show that the anatomical model posture and position associated with face-down MR examination could potentially lead to more than 3 dB differences in the Tier 3 power deposition evaluation for cochlear implants, due primarily to additional capacitive coupling of the head and shoulder region to the RF-coil.
