Excite by Light: A Novel MR-Safe Method of Catheter Tip Tracking

Reiner Umathum¹, Axel Joachim Krafft¹, Michael Bock¹

A novel method for MR-safe catheter tip tracking was investigated. RF-modulated light is converted into a current at the tip of an interventional catheter driving a small resonant circuit tuned to the 1H resonance frequency and exciting a small liquid reservoir locally. The generated MR signal is read out with conventional MR imaging coils so that the catheter tip can be effectively visualized against a dark signal background.