Visualization of active devices and automatic slice repositioning ("SnapTo") for MRI-guided interventions

Magn Reson Med. 2010 Apr;63(4):1070-9. doi: 10.1002/mrm.22307.

Abstract

The accurate visualization of interventional devices is crucial for the safety and effectiveness of MRI-guided interventional procedures. In this paper, we introduce an improvement to the visualization of active devices. The key component is a fast, robust method ("CurveFind") that reconstructs the three-dimensional trajectory of the device from projection images in a fraction of a second. CurveFind is an iterative prediction-correction algorithm that acts on a product of orthogonal projection images. By varying step size and search direction, it is robust to signal inhomogeneities. At the touch of a key, the imaged slice is repositioned to contain the relevant section of the device ("SnapTo"), the curve of the device is plotted in a three-dimensional display, and the point on a target slice, which the device will intersect, is displayed. These features have been incorporated into a real-time MRI system. Experiments in vitro and in vivo (in a pig) have produced successful results using a variety of single- and multichannel devices designed to produce both spatially continuous and discrete signals. CurveFind is typically able to reconstruct the device curve, with an average error of approximately 2 mm, even in the case of complex geometries.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms*
  • Animals
  • Biopsy, Needle / instrumentation
  • Image Enhancement / instrumentation*
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Interventional / instrumentation*
  • Phantoms, Imaging
  • Swine
  • Vascular Diseases / surgery