In vivo and post-mortem measurements of radio frequency induced heating during MRI of pigs implanted with vascular stents

Background Radio Frequency (RF) induced heating associated with MRI is an increasing safety concern as more patients are implanted with cardiovascular devices. A standard test method (ASTM F2182) is used across the device industry to measure RF heating, but this method does not account for cooling mechanisms such as blood flow and perfusion. We hypothesize that in vivo conditions will significantly lessen the RF induced temperature rise near a medical device. To test our hypothesis we performed in vivo MRI experiments on pigs implanted with vascular stents and temperature probes.