Imaging conductivity and local SAR of the human brain

Introduction: Electric Properties Tomography (EPT) provides a theoretical framework for the determination of electric conductivity and local SAR using a standard MR system [1]. These two parameters could be of high interest in clinical MR and MR hardware engineering. Firstly, local SAR is of major interest in high field MR. Secondly, conductivity could be used as a parameter for diagnosis. For instance, studies report that healthy and malignant tissue reveal conductivity contrast [2]. Other studies report alteration of electric properties in connection with stroke [3] or myocardial infarction [4]. In this study, initial results on in vivo brain conductivity imaging and local SAR determination via EPT are shown.