Simulation and Evaluation of Thermal Effects Under MRI for Cochlear Implants

Yuanling Ma, Dian Yang, Liping Qin, Xuesong Ye, Congcong Zhou

2025

Abstract

Cochlear implantation is a widely used rehabilitation method for severe sensorineural deafness, but MRI scans can induce RF heating in implants, posing safety risks to patients. In this study, a novel finite-element-based electromagnetic and thermal coupled simulation method to obtain the temperature distribution and maximum temperature rise due to RF-induced heating is studied. This method allows for a quick analysis of the worst-case implant configurations and an evaluation of RF heating effects. Additionally, for cochlear implants, we propose a refined model parameters setting method which using a localized cochlear phantom in simulations to analyse key factors affecting RF-induced heating include electrode length, lead trajectory, and phantom model. In this paper, RF heating was evaluated using two phantoms, three electrode lengths, and three typical lead trajectories, with the highest temperature rise observed at 1.922°C in the cochlear phantom. The results show that small variations in electrode length have less impact compared to wire trajectory and phantom model, indicating the need for greater focus on these factors when assessing RF heating in active implants.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Ma Y., Yang D., Qin L., Ye X. and Zhou C. (2025). Simulation and Evaluation of Thermal Effects Under MRI for Cochlear Implants. In Proceedings of the 18th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies - Volume 1: BIODEVICES; ISBN 978-989-758-731-3, SciTePress, pages 119-125. DOI: 10.5220/0013113400003911

in Bibtex Style

@conference{biodevices25,
author={Yuanling Ma and Dian Yang and Liping Qin and Xuesong Ye and Congcong Zhou},
title={Simulation and Evaluation of Thermal Effects Under MRI for Cochlear Implants},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 18th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies - Volume 1: BIODEVICES},
year={2025},
pages={119-125},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0013113400003911},
isbn={978-989-758-731-3},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 18th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies - Volume 1: BIODEVICES
TI - Simulation and Evaluation of Thermal Effects Under MRI for Cochlear Implants
SN - 978-989-758-731-3
AU - Ma Y.
AU - Yang D.
AU - Qin L.
AU - Ye X.
AU - Zhou C.
PY - 2025
SP - 119
EP - 125
DO - 10.5220/0013113400003911
PB - SciTePress