No abstract

The procedure had proven to be a sound approach to exposure assessment in MRI. Its testing allowed to draw some general considerations about exposures to gradient magnetic fields and movement-induced effects.

Results demonstrate that compliance with EU Directive limits for static fields does not guarantee compliance with ICNIRP-2014 reference levels and clearly show that movements in the static field could be the key component of the occupational exposure to EMF in MR facilities.

The biological effects of electromagnetic radiation at ultra high frequency on human keratinocytes were investigated. HaCaT cell system, a spontaneously immortalized human keratinocytes cell line, was chosen as model since skin is usually exposed to electromagnetic radiation at considered frequency more than inner tissues. HaCaT cells were exposed to a pure sinusoidal field at a frequency of 900 MHz (average SAR levels ranging from 0.04 to 0.08 W/kg) in plane wave condition inside a GTEM chamber for time intervals of 18 hours at a controlled temperature of 37 • C. Growth curves were obtained for exposed and control cells, and a reduction in the number of exposed cells in comparison to unexposed ones was found; however the number of dead cells was not significantly different in exposed and unexposed samples. In order to investigate whether the reduction in cell proliferation of exposed cells was due to the activation of a differentiative process, the expression of two hallmarks of differentiation was examined. Both keratin 1 and involucrin expression was increased in exposed in comparison to unexposed cells. These results suggest that this protocol of exposure to 900 MHz electromagnetic field can trigger a differentiation program in HaCaT cells.

The static magnetic field generated by MRI systems is highly non-homogenous and rapidly decreases when moving away from the bore of the scanner. Consequently, the movement around the MRI scanner is equivalent to an exposure to a time-varying magnetic field at very low frequency (few Hz). If people with an implanted pacemaker (PM) enter the MRI room, fast movements may thus induce voltages on the loop formed by the PM lead, with the potential to modify the correct behavior of the stimulator. In this study, we performed in-vitro measurements on a human-shaped phantom, equipped with an implantable PM and with a current sensor, able to monitor the activity of the PM while moving the phantom in the MRI room. Fast rotational movements in close proximity of the bore of the scanner caused the inappropriate inhibition of the PM, programmed in VVI modality, maximum sensitivity, unipolar sensing and pacing. The inhibition occurred for a variation of the magnetic field of about 3 T/s. These findings demonstrate that great care must be paid when extending PM MRI compatibility from patients to healthcare personnel, since the safety procedures and the MRI-conditional PM programming (e.g. asynchronous stimulation or bipolar sensing) used for patients cannot be applied.