Several attributes make magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) attractive for guidance of intravascular therapeutic procedures, including high soft tissue contrast, imaging in arbitrary oblique planes, lack of ionizing radiation, and the ability to provide functional information, such as flow velocity or flow volume per unit time, in conjunction with morphologic information. For MR guidance of vascular interventions to be safe, the interventionalist must be able to visualize catheters and guidewires relative to the vascular system and surrounding tissues. A number of approaches for rendering instruments visible in an MR environment have been developed, including both passive and active techniques. Passive techniques depend on contrast agents or susceptibility artifacts that enhance the appearance of the catheter in the image itself, whereas active techniques rely on supplemental hardware built into the catheter, such as a radiofrequency (RF) coil. Additionally, the ability to introduce an RF coil mounted on a catheter presents the opportunity to obtain high-resolution images of the vessel wall. These images can provide the capability to distinguish and identify various plaque components. The additional capabilities of MRI could potentially open up new applications within the purview of vascular interventions beyond those currently performed under X-ray fluoroscopic guidance.
Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.