Approach to Improving Anatomical Accuracy of Numerical Body Models Repositioned to Match Subject Posture During MRI

Motivation: Use of commercial tools to reposition/pose numerical body models to match subject posture in MRI can result in significant non-anatomical distortions of the model. Goal(s): Introduce approach to avoid non-anatomical distortions for a model in the seated position. Approach: “Seated” versions of a body model were produced by: 1) using commercial software alone, and 2) strategically combining portions of the seated and original models offline followed by post-processing. SAR was calculated for both models in an open-bore double-donut MRI system. Results: The Combined model avoided non-anatomical distortions seen when using the repositioning tool alone. These differences are also reflected in SAR distributions. Impact: We introduce a method for avoiding significant non-anatomical distortions occurring in numerical body models when using commercial tools to reconfigure the posture/pose of the model. Use of this approach can also avoid related inaccuracies in calculated SAR and field distributions.