Abstract #2038

Angelone L, Bonmassar G, Makris N, Wald L, Vasios C

This study measured the effect of a transmit array phase relationship on local Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) to determine if B1 shimming could yield significantly different ""worse case"" local SAR levels compared to standard phase relationships. Two different phase configurations for transmit coils were tested using FDTD simulations with a high-resolution head model. We show that the phase relationship can vary the local SAR distribution, greatly affecting also the SAR values for specific tissues, such as CSF, nose, and nerve.