Measuring Electrical Conductivity at Low Frequency Using the Eddy Currents Induced by the Imaging Gradients.

Astrid L.H.M.W. van Lier¹, Cornelis A.T. van den Berg¹, Ulrich Katscher²

The complex permittivity (ε*) of biological tissues depends on their biochemical composition and the applied frequency. In this study we investigate a method that measures the tissue conductivity in the biologically interesting low frequency (LF,=Hz-kHz) range. A first implementation of this method LF-EPT is based on similar reconstruction principles as MR-CDI, but it employs the imaging gradient instead of electrodes to induce (eddy) currents. First experiments show that this method is feasible in phantoms.