title: [Automatic slice tracking in interventional magnetic resonance imaging].
abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is ideally suited to monitor minimally invasive operations with catheters or needles, since it offers both a superior soft-tissue contrast and the possibility to perform functional tests. In the present study, small radio-frequency coils were attached to the instruments in order to localize the MR-invisible instruments. The implementation of active instrument tracking is described on the basis of the example of active catheter tracking. In this case, the current position information of the instrument is used to automatically position the MRI slice at the catheter location. In combination with a user interface, the interventional radiologist is offered the possibility to perform vascular interventions from within the MR scanner room. At image update rates of approximately 3 Hz, tracking and placement of catheters in vascular structures are possible with interactive switching of slice orientation and image contrast. In an animal model, the technique was successfully used to selectively visualize the abdominal vessels and their branches under MRI guidance.
authors.affiliation: Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ), Abt. Biophysik und Medizinische Strahlenphysik (E20), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, D-69120 Heidelberg. M.Bock@dkfz.de
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bock
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Volz
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zühlsdorff
authors.forename: Reiner
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Umathum
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hallscheidt
authors.forename: Wolfhard
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Semmler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001331:Automation; D002408:Catheters, Indwelling; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D023421:Models, Animal; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011846:Radio Waves; D015641:Radiography, Interventional / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*