International Journal of Antennas and Propagation
Volume 2008 (2008), Article ID 259703, 12 pages
doi:10.1155/2008/259703
Research Article

Parallel Solvers for Finite-Difference Modeling of Large-Scale, High-Resolution Electromagnetic Problems in MRI

Hua Wang, Adnan Trakic, Feng Liu, Bing Keong Li, Ewald Weber, and Stuart Crozier

School of Information Technology and Electric Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia

Received 29 August 2007; Revised 23 January 2008; Accepted 10 April 2008

Academic Editor: Tamer Ibrahim

Copyright © 2008 Hua Wang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Linked References

  1. A. K. Andriola Silva, É. L. Silva, E. S. T. Egito, and A. S. Carriço, “Safety concerns related to magnetic field exposure,” Radiation and Environmental Biophysics, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 245–252, 2006. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  2. J. F. Schenck, “Safety of strong, static magnetic fields,” Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 2–19, 2000. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  3. P. A. Gowland, “Present and future magnetic resonance sources of exposure to static fields,” Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, vol. 87, no. 2-3, pp. 175–183, 2005. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  4. S. Crozier and F. Liu, “Numerical evaluation of the fields caused by body motion in or near high-field MRI scanners,” Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, vol. 87, no. 2-3, pp. 267–278, 2005. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  5. “Assessment of electromagnetic fields around magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment,” Health and Safety Executive, London, UK, 2007.
  6. F. X. Hebrank, “SAFE model—a new method for predicting peripheral nerve stimulation in MRI,” in Proceedings of the 8th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM '00), vol. 8, pp. 2007–2013, Denver, Colo, USA, April 2000.
  7. D. J. Schaefer, J. D. Bourland, and J. A. Nyenhuis, “Review of patient safety in time-varying gradient fields,” Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 20–29, 2000. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  8. S. C. Faber, A. Hoffmann, C. Ruedig, and M. Reiser, “MRI-induced stimulation of peripheral nerves: dependency of stimulation threshold on patient positioning,” Magnetic Resonance Imaging, vol. 21, no. 7, pp. 715–724, 2003. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  9. J. D. Bourland, J. A. Nyenhuis, and D. J. Schaefer, “Physiologic effects of intense MR imaging gradient fields,” Neuroimaging Clinics of North America, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 363–377, 1999.
  10. C. M. Collins, S. Li, and M. B. Smith, “SAR and B1 field distributions in a heterogeneous human head model within a birdcage coil,” Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 847–856, 1998. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  11. T. S. Ibrahim, R. Lee, B. A. Baertlein, Y. Yu, and P.-M. L. Robitaille, “Computational analysis of the high pass birdcage resonator: finite difference time domain solutions for high-field MRI,” Magnetic Resonance Imaging, vol. 18, no. 7, pp. 835–856, 2000. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  12. A. Trakic, F. Liu, H. Sanchez Lopez, H. Wang, and S. Crozier, “Longitudinal gradient coil optimization in the presence of transient eddy currents,” Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, vol. 57, no. 6, pp. 1119–1130, 2007. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  13. A. Taflove, Computational Electrodynamics: The Finite-Difference Time-Domain Method, Artech House, Boston, Mass, USA, 1995.
  14. F. Liu, H. W. Zhao, and S. Crozier, “On the induced electric field gradients in the human body for magnetic stimulation by gradient coils in MRI,” IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, vol. 50, no. 7, pp. 804–815, 2003. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  15. S. Crozier and F. Liu, “Numerical evaluation of the fields caused by body motion in or near high-field MRI scanners,” Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, vol. 87, no. 2-3, pp. 267–278, 2005. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  16. F. Liu, H. Zhao, and S. Crozier, “Calculation of electric fields induced by body and head motion in high-field MRI,” Journal of Magnetic Resonance, vol. 161, no. 1, pp. 99–107, 2003. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  17. F. Liu, S. Crozier, H. Zhao, and B. Lawrence, “Finite-difference time-domain-based studies of MRI pulsed field gradient-induced eddy currents inside the human body,” Concepts in Magnetic Resonance Part B, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 26–36, 2002. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  18. H. Zhao, S. Crozier, and F. Liu, “Finite difference time domain (FDTD) method for modeling the effect of switched gradients on the human body in MRI,” Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, vol. 48, no. 6, pp. 1037–1042, 2002. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  19. H. Zhao, S. Crozier, and F. Liu, “A high definition, finite difference time domain method,” Applied Mathematical Modelling, vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 409–419, 2003. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  20. F. Liu and S. Crozier, “A distributed equivalent magnetic current based FDTD method for the calculation of E-fields induced by gradient coils,” Journal of Magnetic Resonance, vol. 169, no. 2, pp. 323–327, 2004. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  21. Q. Wei, F. Liu, L. Xia, and S. Crozier, “An object-oriented designed finite-difference time-domain simulator for electromagnetic analysis and design in MRI-applications to high field analyses,” Journal of Magnetic Resonance, vol. 172, no. 2, pp. 222–230, 2005. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  22. F. Liu and S. Crozier, “An FDTD model for calculation of gradient-induced eddy currents in MRI system,” IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 1883–1889, 2004. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  23. A. Trakic, H. Wang, F. Liu, H. S. López, and S. Crozier, “Analysis of transient eddy currents in MRI using a cylindrical FDTD method,” IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 1924–1936, 2006. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  24. F. Liu, B. L. Beck, B. Xu, J. R. Fitzsimmons, S. J. Blackband, and S. Crozier, “Numerical modeling of 11.1T MRI of a human head using a MoM/FDTD method,” Concepts in Magnetic Resonance Part B, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 28–38, 2005. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  25. C. Guiffaut and K. Mahdjoubi, “A parallel FDTD algorithm using the MPI library,” IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 94–103, 2001. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  26. S. D. Gedney, “Finite-difference time-domain analysis of microwave circuit devices on high performance vector/parallel computers,” IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 43, no. 10, pp. 2510–2514, 1995. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  27. K. Taguchi, M. Uchiya, T. Kashiwa, K. Hirayama, H. Kuribayashi, and S. Komatsu, “FDTD large-scale parallel supercomputing and its application to the analysis of radiation characteristics of an antenna mounted on a vehicle,” International Journal of RF and Microwave Computer-Aided Engineering, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 253–261, 2004. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  28. K. S. Yee, “Numerical solution of initial boundary value problems involving Maxwell's equations in isotropic media,” IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 302–307, 1996.
  29. W. H. Press, S. A. Teukolsky, W. T. Vetterling, and B. P. Flannery, Numerical Recipes in C: The Art of Scientific Computing, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1992.
  30. PCGPAK User's Guide, Scientific Computing Associates, New Haven, Conn, USA.
  31. F. Liu and S. Crozier, “Electromagnetic fields inside a lossy, multilayered spherical head phantom excited by MRI coils: models and methods,” Physics in Medicine and Biology, vol. 49, no. 10, pp. 1835–1851, 2004. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  32. Human male voxel phantom BROOK, “Brooks Air force Database,” 2004, http://www.brooks.af.mil/.
  33. P. Dimbylow, “Development of the female voxel phantom, NAOMI, and its application to calculations of induced current densities and electric fields from applied low frequency magnetic and electric fields,” Physics in Medicine and Biology, vol. 50, no. 6, pp. 1047–1070, 2005. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  34. C. Gabriel, S. Gabriel, and E. Corthout, “The dielectric properties of biological tissues—I: literature survey,” Physics in Medicine and Biology, vol. 41, no. 11, pp. 2231–2249, 1996. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  35. S. Crozier, L. K. Forbes, and D. M. Doddrell, “The design of transverse gradient coils of restricted length by simulated annealing,” Journal of Magnetic Resonance A, vol. 107, no. 1, pp. 126–128, 1994. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar