Magnetic Resonance - Electrical Impedance Tomography (MR-EIT) Research at METU

Following development of magnetic resonance current density imaging (MRCDI), magnetic resonance - electrical impedance tomography (MR-EIT) has emerged as a promising approach to produce high resolution conductivity images. Electric current applied to a conductor results in a potential field and a magnetic flux density distribution. Using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the magnetic flux density distribution can be reconstructed as in MRCDI. The flux density is related to the current density distribution hence the relative conductivity distribution. The sensitivity of the MR-EIT measurements to conductivity distribution and the spatial resolution in the field of view are independent of position. The spatial resolution is in the order of a few millimeters which make MR-EIT an attractive modality to image tissue conductivity. In this talk, several MR-EIT reconstruction algorithms developed and implemented at Middle East Technical University (METU), their performance analysis on simulated data and the results of experiments performed on 0.15 Tesla METU-MRI system are given.