Passive catheter tracking during interventional MRI using hyperpolarized 13 C

• Published in: Magnetic resonance in medicine Vol. 57; no. 6; pp. 1140 - 1147
• Main Authors: Magnusson, Peter, Johansson, Edvin, Månsson, Sven, Petersson, J. Stefan, Chai, Chun‐Ming, Hansson, Georg, Axelsson, Oskar, Golman, Klaes
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.06.2007
• ISSN: 0740-3194; 1522-2594
• DOI: 10.1002/mrm.21239

Abstract Interventional procedures in MRI can be performed preclinically using active or passive catheter‐tracking methods. A novel passive nonproton technique is suggested that uses a catheter filled with a hyperpolarized 13 C contrast agent. A prototype three‐lumen catheter was built with two closed lumens containing a flowing hyperpolarized 13 C contrast agent. Entire‐length 13 C catheter projection visualization could be performed in vivo with a catheter SNR of ∼80, one dual projection frame per ∼700 ms, and an in‐plane resolution of 2 × 2 mm 2 while traveling through the aorta of a pig. The traveling path of the 13 C catheter was visualized after back‐projection catheter reconstruction and after image fusion with an anatomical offline proton road map. Catheter length visualization was aided by an oblique planar visualization mode. The high catheter signal demonstrated, together with the entire catheter length visualization and high surrounding soft‐tissue contrast, warrants further development into a real‐time technique. Magn Reson Med 57:1140–1147, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.