Use of a NURBS-based, fully body anatomy and FEA model to evaluate RF-induced heating during MRI Imaging

Purpose:

• Previous studies using computational methods to evaluate RF-induced heating during MR imaging focused on predicting specific absorption rate (SAR) using finite difference time-domain (FDTD) analysis.
• A multiphysics-based finite element analysis (FEA) approach is presented, using a NURBS-based anatomical model developed from MR, CT and cryosectioned data.
• Method incorporates geometric features with high fidelity at minimal computational expense and provides a coupled transient thermal solution.
• SAR predictions from the FEA model are compared to published data. The sensitivity of temperature results to anatomical complexity is also explored.