A Technique to Evaluate MRI-Induced Electric Fields at the Ends of Practical Implanted Lead

This paper presents a novel technique for efficient evaluation of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-induced electric fields or induced voltages in the vicinity of implanted metallic leads. The technique is based on the reciprocity theorem in conjunction with the Huygens Principle. This approach allows one to decouple the micro-scale metallic lead simulation/measurement from the macro-level phantom human simulations within the MRI scanners. Consequently, the estimation of MRI-induced heating on an implanted lead, and the induced voltage on the pacemaker device can be greatly simplified. In addition, this method clearly explains the induced lead heating mechanism during MRI procedures. Several numerical examples, as well as measurement results are given to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of this method.