Reproducibility of Electromagnetic Field Simulations of Local Radiofrequency Transmit Elements Tailored for 7 T MRI

The literature reports on radiofrequency (RF) transmit (Tx) elements tailored for ultrahigh-field (UHF) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed confounded reproducibility due to variations in simulation tools, modeling assumptions, and meshing techniques. This study proposes a standardized methodology to improve reproducibility and consistency across research sites (testers) and simulation tools (testing conditions). The methodology includes detailed simulation workflow and performance metrics for RF Tx elements. The impact of the used mesh setting is assessed. Following the methodology, a reproducibility study was conducted using CST Microwave Studio Suite, HFSS, and Sim4Life. The methodology and simulations were ultimately validated through 7 T MRI phantom experiments. The reproducibility study showed consistent performance with less than 6% standard deviation for B1+ fields and 12% for peak SAR averaged over 10 g tissue (pSAR10g). The SAR efficiency metric (|B1+|/√pSAR10g) was particularly robust (