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Abstract #0489

Validation & Comparison of Patient-Specific SAR Models

Hanno Homann1, Peter Brnert2, Kay Nehrke2, Holger Eggers2, Olaf Dssel1, Ingmar Graesslin2

1Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany; 2Philips Research Europe, Hamburg, Germany


Estimation of the specific absorption rate (SAR) is typically performed by numerical simulations using generic body models. However, this represents the local SAR in the individual patient only to a limited extent. This study evaluates a recently proposed approach for generating patient-specific body models based on whole-body water-fat-separated MR data. A comparison of measured and simulated B1-fields showed qualitative and quantitative agreement. Local SAR values vary significantly between patients. However, similar locations of SAR hotspots were observed. These results increase confidence in the validity of simulated SAR values.