Alterations in human ECG due to the MagnetoHydroDynamic effect: A method for accurate R peak detection in the presence of high MHD artifacts

Blood flow in high static magnetic fields induces elevated voltages that contaminate the ECG signal which is recorded simultaneously during MRI scans for synchronization purposes. This is known as the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effect, it increases the amplitude of the T wave, thus hindering correct R peak detection. In this paper, we inspect the MHD induced alterations of human ECG signals recorded in a 1.5 Tesla steady magnetic field and establish a primary characterization of the induced changes using time and frequency domain analysis. We also reexamine our previously developed real time algorithm for MRI cardiac gating [1] and determine that, with a minor modification, this algorithm is capable of achieving perfect detection even in the presence of strong MHD artifacts.