Numerical assessment of the reduction of specific absorption rate by adding high dielectric materials for fetus MRI at 3 T

Minmin Luo, Can Hu, Yayun Zhuang, Wufan Chen, Feng Liu, Sherman Xuegang Xin

The specific absorption rate (SAR) is an important issue to be considered in fetus MRI at 3 T due to the high radiofrequency energy deposited inside the body of pregnant woman. The high dielectric material (HDM) has shown its potential for enhancing B1 field and reducing SAR in MRI. The aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of SAR reduction by adding an HDM to the fetus MRI. The feasibility of SAR reduction is numerically assessed in this study, using a birdcage coil in transmission loaded with an electromagnetic pregnant woman model in the SEMCAD-EM solver. The HDMs with different geometric arrangements and dielectric constants are manually optimized. The B1+ ${B_1}^ + $ homogeneity is also considered while calculating the optimized fetus 10 g local SAR among different strategies in the application of HDM. The optimum maximum fetus 10 g local SAR was obtained as 2.25 W/kg, by using two conformal pads placed left and right with the dielectric constant to be 400, reduced by 24.75% compared to that without the HDM. It indicated that the SAR can be significantly reduced with strategic placement of the HDM and the use of HDM may provide a simple, effective and low-cost method for reducing the SAR for the fetus MRI at 3 T.