MRI vendors have been asked to provide B1+ contour plots of unloaded whole body transmit coils in order to show technologists/radiographers where not position a patient for SAR hotspot/RF burn avoidance purposes. Two flaws with this strategy are demonstrated by modeling Duke at the abdominal landmark in the centered and off-set position: 1) B1+ maps correlate poorly to SAR hotspots, 2) loaded B1+ maps are significantly different relative to unloaded B1+ maps. Knowledge of the birdcage coil end-ring position in conjunction with spacing pads will improve RF burn safety outcomes.
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