Dependence of excitation frequency of resonant circuit on RF irradiation position of MRI equipment

Hyperthermia using implants is a cancer treatment in which cancer tissue is heated to over 42.5 deg C to selectively kill the cancer cells. In this study, a resonant circuit was used as an implant, and a weak magnetic field of radiofrequency (RF) pulses from a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device was used as an excitation source. We report here how the temperature of the resonant circuit was controlled by changing the excitation frequency of the MRI. As a result, the temperature rise of the resonant circuit was successfully found to depend on its position in the MRI device. This significant result indicates that the temperature of the resonant circuit can be controlled only by adjusting the excitation position. Accurate temperature control is therefore expected to be possible by combining this control technique with the temperature measurement function of MRI equipment. (author)