Magnetic resonance-guided vascular catheterization: feasibility using a passive tracking technique at 0.2 Telsa in a pig model.

The objective of this study was to demonstrate in an animal model the feasibility of a passive tracking technique for catheter visualization of magnetic resonance (MR)-guided endovascular procedures. All experiments were performed in a 0.2 Tesla open MR system. Susceptibility-based catheters and guide wires were introduced into the aorta and were advanced selectively into the splenic and renal arteries under MR guidance. Based on a previously acquired contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) data set, the catheter positioning was performed by using a single-slice true fast imaging with steady state precession (FISP) sequence with a frame rate of 1.3 seconds. Contrast-enhanced MRA was performed in all animals. All catheters were advanced without complications into the aorta and were introduced into the proximal parts of the right renal and splenic arteries under MR guidance. Catheter manipulations were more difficult in the distal parts of these vessels due to the more complex anatomy. Passive catheter tracking is a valuable and technically robust alternative to active tracking methods, because it does not require additional hardware and, thus, can be implemented and used easily with any open MR imaging system. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 1999;10:841–844. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.