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Abstract #4898

Direct SAR Mapping by Thermoacoustic Imaging: A Feasibility Study

Simone Angela Winkler 1 , Paul Picot 2 , Michael Thornton 2 , and Brian K Rutt 1

1 Dept of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States, 2 Endra, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

We propose a new concept for direct measurement of specific absorption ratio (SAR), to be used as a safety assessment / monitoring tool for MRI. The concept uses short bursts of RF energy and measures the resulting thermoacoustic excitation pattern by an ultrasound transducer array, followed by image reconstruction to yield the 3D SAR distribution. We developed a simulation framework to model this thermoacoustic SAR mapping concept; results of these simulations show good agreement between reconstructed and original SAR distributions and support the feasibility of direct experimental mapping of SAR distributions in vivo.

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