ISMRM Working Group on
Best Practices for Safety Testing of Experimental RF Hardware
Obtaining institutional review board (IRB) approval for self-built RF hardware is a common and recurring challenge at numerous sites worldwide, yet the approaches taken at research institutions vary widely. The mission of this working group is to develop consistent guidelines to assist research sites seeking to obtain local IRB approvals for experimental RF devices (typically coils, but also anything else that can modify or create transmit RF fields) and ensure the safety of research subjects. The guidelines (published 08 March 2022) include recommendations for:
- Hazard analysis to evaluate the risk of potential failures;
- SAR supervision and simulations, including procedures for benchmarking and phantom design;
- Mechanical construction, insulation and material properties; and
- Electrical design, component specifications and grounding.
Founders:
Nicola De Zanche (Edmonton, Canada)
Nico van den Berg (Utrecht, Netherlands)
Members:
Anna Andreychenko
Nikolai Avdievich
Nicolas Boulant
Ryan Brown
David Brunner
Dean Darnell
Thomas Fiedler
Kyle Gilbert
Oliver Kraff
Joe Murphy-Boesch
Mahdwesha Rao
Joseph Rispoli
Brian Rutt
Tales Santini
Andrew Webb
Lukas Winter
Sossena Wood
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