An Implant-Friendly MRI Coil for Imaging of Children with Non-MR-Conditional Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices

Motivation: Pediatric patients often receive cardiac electronic devices that are not MR-conditional, leading to suboptimal imaging choices during clinical care. Goal(s): Design a patient-adjustable, reconfigurable MRI coil system for implant-friendly pediatric imaging. Approach: A linearly polarized, rotating birdcage transmitter was developed for full-body pediatric MRI at 1.5 T, featuring a manually adjustable low-electric-field region that aligns with the patient's implant. In vivo RF heating was estimated for a commercial epicardial pacemaker. Results: When positioned at its optimal rotation angle, the RPA coil reduced heating at the implanted lead tips by an average of seven-fold compared to the conventional body coil. Impact: We introduce a user-friendly, plug-and-play coil solution to enhance MRI safety for pediatric patients with implants, empowering healthcare providers to deliver optimal care while minimizing risks.