RF Heating Analysis of Implanted lead wires under 3.0 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging System

RF heating has severely limited the application of high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the patients with active implantable medical devices (AIMDs). Based on the finite element methods (FEMs), we study the RF heating of a lead implanted in the human body under 3.0 T MRI. The coupled simulation of electromagnetic and heat transfer is used to analyze the relationship between several factors, such as the resonance length, the implantation position, the implantation configuration, and the thermal conductivity, and RF heating. Results show that the resonance length of the lead is half of the RF wavelength, and the temperature rise exceeds the acceptable range of human body when the resonance occurs. The electromagnetic field distribution in the phantom is not uniform, so the field density around the wire may vary with different implantation positions and configurations. Temperature rise reduces with the decrease of the field density. In addition, RF heating can be reduced by increasing the thermal conductivity.