title: Catheter tracking with phase information in a magnetic resonance scanner.
abstract: The purpose of this study is to describe a new active technique for accurately determining both the position and orientation of the tip of a catheter during magnetic resonance (MR)-guided percutaneous cardiovascular procedures. The technique utilizes phase information introduced into the MR signal from a small receive coil located on the distal tip of the catheter. Phase patterns around a small receive coil are rich in information that is directly related to position and orientation. This information can be collected over a large spherical volume with a diameter several times that of the receive coil. The high degree of redundancy yields the potential for an accurate and robust method of catheter tracking. A tracking algorithm is presented that performs catheter tip localization using phase images acquired in two orthogonal planes without any a priori knowledge of catheter position. Associated experimentation demonstrating feasibility is also presented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada. kevan.anderson@sri.utoronto.ca
authors.forename: Kevan J T
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Greig C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: Graham A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D053783:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Interventional / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D008280:Magnetics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity