Patients with abandoned pacemaker leads require special attention during MR exams due to the risk of lead tip heating from RF energy deposition. The electromagnetic fields on the compact 3T (C3T) scanner fall off rapidly caudal to the head, and therefore present a reduced risk of lead tip heating during brain imaging. We compared the images from a whole-body 1.5T scanner and a high-performance C3T scanner. The C3T images show substantial improvements in image quality and greater cortical detail. This work establishes the feasibility of C3T brain MRI with a 32-channel receive coil for patients with abandoned leads.
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