Methods for measuring induced currents on electrical leads and electrodes in magnetic resonance imaging

A method for measuring radio frequency (RF) current induced in an electrically conductive object positioned in a bore of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, the steps of the method comprising:

• (a) acquiring with an MRI system, first data from a first slice in a subject, the first slice being proximal to an electrically conductive object having attached thereto an electrically conductive wire, wherein the first slice contains the electrically conductive wire;
• (b) acquiring with the MRI system, second data from a second slice in the subject, the second slice being distal to the electrically conductive object;
• (c) reconstructing a first image from the first data;
• (d) reconstructing a second image from the second data;
• (e) processing the first image with a computer system to compute a location of a center of the electrically conductive wire and a location of a transmit null point;
• (f) computing with the computer system, an angular position of the transmit null point based on the location of the center of the electrically conductive wire and the location of the transmit null point;
• (g) processing the second image with the computer system to compute an estimation of a transmit radio frequency (RF) field incident on the electrically conductive object;
• and
• (h) computing with the computer system a magnitude of an induced current in the electrically conductive wire and a phase of the induced current in the electrically conductive wire using the angular position of the transmit null point and the estimation of the transmit RF field incident on the electrically conductive object.