Efficient and Comprehensive EM Field Simulation Procedure for PTX Experiments

Frank Seifert¹, Tomasz Lindel¹, Peter Ullmann²

Controlling local SAR is crucial for patient safety in parallel transmission MRI. EM field simulations are basic tools to determine multi-channel EM field distributions necessary for pTX RF pulse calculation and for predicting RF power deposition in the human body. Here we present a reliable simulation procedure including realistic models of coil losses and matching circuits allowing experimental validation in absolute units. The efficient implementation is based on post processing of FDTD data, i.e. complex valued E, H and J distributions for each channel in conjunction with the complex impedance matrix calculated from steady state currents and voltages at the feeding ports of the coil array.