Deep brain stimulation patient safety: Effects of patient-based lead trajectories on full-body 3 T MRI

Abstract

High SAR RF pulse sequences continue to be avoided for patients with implanted deep brain stimulation (DBS) devices, due to the increased risk of injury. Recent studies have shown that DBS lead management can impact electromagnetic behavior and thus, the overall RF heating effects along the implanted device. The present work studied two patient-based DBS lead trajectories using a commercial DBS device with MR-conditional labeling for full-body 3 T MRI, implanted in a novel anthropomorphic phantom. The preliminary results showed temperature elevations that exceed current imaging guidelines remains possible for high SAR RF pulse sequences.