Effect of radiofrequency inhomogeneity on water-content based electrical properties tomography and its correction by flip angle maps

Water-content based electrical properties tomography (wEPT) can retrieve electrical properties (EPs) from water-content maps. B1+ field information is not involved in the traditional magnetic resonance electrical properties tomography approach. wEPT can be performed through conventional MR scanning, such as T1-weighted spin-echo imaging, which provides convenient access to multiple clinical applications. However, the inhomogeneous radiofrequency (RF) field induced by RF coils would cause inaccuracy in wEPT reconstructions during MR scanning. We conducted a detailed investigation to evaluate the effect of inhomogeneous RF field on wEPT reconstructions to guarantee that EP mapping is desired for clinical practice. Two important considerations are involved, namely, multiple typical coil configurations and various flip angles (FAs). We proposed a correction scheme with actual FA mapping to calibrate the RF inhomogeneity and finally validated it by using human imaging at 3 T. This study illustrates a detailed evaluation for wEPT under imperfect RF homogeneity and further provides a feasible correction procedure to mitigate it. The profound knowledge of wEPT provided in our work will benefit its performance in clinical applications.