Zhang, Zhonghao; Lu, Ming; Lu, Zhengyi; Huo, Yuankai; Yan, Xinqiang. (2026). . IEEE Access, 14, 112236–112247.
MRI scanning is often limited for patients with deep brain stimulation (DBS) implants because radiofrequency (RF) energy used during MRI can heat the implanted leads and potentially cause tissue injury. This study developed and tested a six-channel head coil designed to control the distribution of the MRI electric field and reduce heating near DBS implants. Using computer-based electromagnetic simulations, the researchers adjusted individual coil elements to reshape the transmitted RF field. The approach was tested first with a simple conductive wire and then with four realistic DBS lead models. The coil could be optimized either to reduce the electric field at a specific location, such as the tip of a DBS lead, or to reduce the maximum specific absorption rate (SAR), a measure of RF energy absorbed by tissue, across the entire head. Depending on the optimization method, the electric field at a targeted location was reduced by 45.9% to 68.3%, while whole-head SAR was reduced by an average of 72.09% across the four DBS models. These findings demonstrate that the proposed coil can flexibly reshape the MRI transmit field and substantially reduce simulated RF-related heating around DBS implants, providing a promising approach for improving MRI safety in patients with these devices.
FIGURE 1.Â
[A] Simulation model of a 3 T body transmit (Tx) coil combined with a decoupled six-channel wireless head coil array (blue). [B] Zoomed-in view of the 6-channel wireless resonator array with the birdcage coil model hidden. The image combines the human head and the simplified DBS lead model. The wireless resonator conductors are shown in blue, and the DBS electrode is shown in red. [C] Combined human head and DBS lead model. All DBS lead positions are shown together for illustration purposes; however, in the simulations, each DBS configuration was evaluated independently.