High permittivity materials, in the form of “dielectric pads” are used in neuroimaging and body applications to improve B1+ homogeneity and intensity or to reduce corresponding SAR measures. In 3D, systematic pad design is computationally intensive with very long associated simulation times. We propose a hybrid solution to this problem by combining the flexibility of FDTD to model complex background configurations (coil/shield/subject) with an integral equation approach that takes the presence of a dielectric pad into account. This solution leads to speed up factors of 30 – 40 compared with conventional FDTD approaches and enables effective 3D dielectric pad design.

High permittivity materials, in the form of “dielectric pads” are used in neuroimaging and body applications to improve B1+ homogeneity and intensity or to reduce corresponding SAR measures. In 3D, systematic pad design is computationally intensive with very long associated simulation times. We propose a hybrid solution to this problem by combining the flexibility of FDTD to model complex background configurations (coil/shield/subject) with an integral equation approach that takes the presence of a dielectric pad into account. This solution leads to speed up factors of 30 – 40 compared with conventional FDTD approaches and enables effective 3D dielectric pad design.