Review Article

Thermal Effects Associated with RF Exposures in Diagnostic MRI: Overview of Existing and Emerging Concepts of Protection

Figure 1

Limits to RF exposure in MRI equipment [2]. For global exposure or protection from systemic thermal effects, 6-minuteaveraged whole body SAR and head SAR must be controlled. Additional limits apply to control local exposure, e.g., from small RF coils or inhomogeneous RF fields. This table contains only a subset of requirements; refer to [2] for detailed specifications including partial body SAR, short-term SAR, and specific absorption (limits not shown).