Efficient Tissue Permittivity and Conductivity Mapping Using Standard MR Images

Seung-Kyun Lee¹, Selaka Bandara Bulumulla¹, Ileana Hancu¹

We demonstrate a method in which tissue electrical properties are estimated from standard MR images alone, without need for dedicated B1 mapping. The method is based on rearrangement of the Helmholtz equation applied to B1+ and B1 into a form in which MR-measurable quantities are separated out. The non-measureable term, which defines the error in our method, is exactly zero in the limit B1+ = B1, and grows quadratically with the fractional difference between B1+ and B1. The method is applied to conductivity and permittivity mapping in a water-oil phantom and in-vivo conductivity measurement in a volunteers leg.