A Numerical Alternative to <scp>MR</scp> Thermometry for Safety Validation of Multi‐Channel <scp>RF</scp> Transmit Coils

PURPOSE: This study proposes a numerical technique to estimate peak local specific absorption rate (SAR) uncertainty of multi-channel RF coils during the process of safety validation as an alternative to experimental temperature and electric-field measurements, and demonstrates its use to enable human studies at 10.5 T. METHODS: distributions to the uncertainty in simulated peak local SAR using Monte-Carlo simulations without the need for MRT. This method was validated using a 16-channel transceiver 10.5 T torso coil, as well as an 8-channel 10.5 T head coil. RESULTS: The proposed numerical technique proved more conservative than existing MRT-based SAR error quantification methods across all tested scenarios. Its application to validate three state-of-the-art head coils (16Tx/32Rx, 16Tx/80Rx, and 16Tx/128Rx) led to regulatory approval for human head imaging and high-quality diffusion and functional MRI results at 10.5 T. CONCLUSION: maps for comparison with simulations, enabling the estimation of SAR prediction uncertainty. This technique was applied to three 16-channel transmit arrays, each used in conjunction with high-channel-count receive arrays for in vivo imaging.