Magnetic Resonance Imaging of a Current Density Component

Magnetic resonance current density imaging (MRCDI) is a useful method for measuring electrical current density distribution inside an object. To avoid object rotations during the conventional MRCDI scans, we have reconstructed current density component images by applying a spatial filter to the magnetic field data measured both inside and outside the object. To measure the magnetic field outside the object with MRI, we immersed the object in a water tank. To evaluate accuracy of the current density imaging, we have made a conductivity phantom with a corresponding finite element method model. We have compared the experimentally obtained current density images with the ones calculated by the finite element method. The average errors of the reconstructed current density images were 6.6 ∼ 45.4 ％ when the injected currents were 1 ∼ 24 mA. We expect that the current density component imaging technique can be used in diverse biomedical applications such as electrical therapy system developments and biological electrical safety analysis.