title: Stereotactic accuracy of a 3-tesla magnetic resonance unit.
abstract: Recently, magnetic resonance imagers (MRIs) with 3-tesla magnets were approved for clinical use. The spatial accuracy of these high-resolution scanners has yet to be proven. In the present study, a computed tomography (CT)- and MRI-compatible phantom was scanned on a CT, a 1.5-tesla MRI and a 3-tesla MRI scanner. The model was registered to the images using an infrared-based surgical navigation system. The distance between the predicted position of the navigation probe tip and the actual target on the image was measured on the x, y and z axes for 13 points on each image. Error was compared across imaging modalities, peripheral versus central targets and along each axis. We found that 3-tesla MRI scans are accurate as stereotactic data sets.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, Neurological Institute of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, USA. schulder@umdnj.edu
authors.forename: Hooman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Azmi
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schulder
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted