A comparative study of RF heating of deep brain stimulation devices in vertical vs. horizontal MRI systems

Jasmine Vu, Bhumi Bhusal, Bach T. Nguyen, Pia Sanpitak, Elizabeth Nowac, Julie Pilitsis, Joshua Rosenow, Laleh Golestanirad*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

The majority of studies that assess magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) induced radiofrequency (RF) heating of the tissue when active electronic implants are present have been performed in horizontal, closed-bore MRI systems. Vertical, open-bore MRI systems have a 90º rotated magnet and a fundamentally different RF coil geometry, thus generating a substantially different RF field distribution inside the body. Little is known about the RF heating of elongated implants such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) devices in this class of scanners. Here, we conducted the first large-scale experimental study investigating whether RF heating was significantly different in a 1.2 T vertical field MRI scanner (Oasis, Fujifilm Healthcare) compared to a 1.5 T horizontal field MRI scanner (Aera, Siemens Healthineers). A commercial DBS device mimicking 30 realistic patient-derived lead trajectories extracted from postoperative computed tomography images of patients who underwent DBS surgery at our institution was implanted in a multi-material, anthropomorphic phantom. RF heating around the DBS lead was measured during four minutes of high-SAR RF exposure. Additionally, we performed electromagnetic simulations with leads of various internal structures to examine this effect on RF heating. When controlling for RMS B1+, the temperature increase around the DBS lead-tip was significantly lower in the vertical scanner compared to the horizontal scanner (0.33 ± 0.24ºC vs. 4.19 ± 2.29ºC). Electromagnetic simulations demonstrated up to a 17-fold reduction in the maximum of 0.1g-averaged SAR in the tissue surrounding the lead-tip in the vertical scanner compared to the horizontal scanner. Results were consistent across leads with straight and helical internal wires. Radiofrequency heating and power deposition around the DBS lead-tip were substantially lower in the 1.2 T vertical scanner compared to the 1.5 T horizontal scanner. Simulations with different lead structures suggest that the results may extend to leads from other manufacturers.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbere0278187
JournalPloS one
Volume17
Issue number12 December
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2022

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant numbers R03EB029587, R01EB030324, and T32EB025766]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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