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

Figure 6

Typical distribution of (a) predicted hotspot temperature and (b) CEM43 (in bins of 0.2) observed in clinical use of 210,000 examinations at 1.5T and 3T MRI for all body parts at multiple hospitals. The blue and orange curves represent normal and impaired thermoregulation starting from a basal temperature of 37°C [108] and show the percentage of examinations where a certain CEM43 is calculated. The fraction of high CEM43 values for each bin and each condition is represented as unconnected data points with values shown at the right-side axis. Note that assumed impaired thermoregulation shifts the curves to higher CEM43 values, but such values may be a significant overestimate due to model assumptions.

(a)

(b)