Computational and experimental investigation of RF‐induced heating for multiple orthopedic implants

Purpose This paper investigates the RF‐induced heating for multiple adjacent orthopedic implants under MRI at 1.5T and 3T exposure. When multiple implants are closely spaced to each other, the interactions between the implants may affect the RF‐induced heating. Traditional RF‐induced heating labeling is often only applicable to configurations of an individual implant, and is not applicable for multi‐implant configurations. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of multiple orthopedic implants on RF‐induced heating and to propose potential appropriate instructions for safe scanning of multi‐implantable orthopedic implants. Methods Typical plate and nail implants were used as examples. The effects of implant configuration, relative positions, and number of implants were investigated. Numerical simulations were conducted using full‐wave electromagnetic simulation software. Experimental measurements at 1.5 T were performed to validate the numerical results. Results Numerical results indicate that, due to device interaction, the RF‐induced heating of multiple medical implants can be significantly different from that of a single implant. The measured temperature rise for multiple devices could be 2.7 times larger than that of a single implant. Conclusion Our results confirm that RF‐induced heating of multiple implants can be quite different, and do not follow simple superposition of the results from single devices. Instructions for safe scanning of individual orthopedic devices would not be applicable to multi‐implant configurations.