Abstract #1406

Weiss S, Vernickel P, Schaeffter T, Gleich B

A transmission line that had been proposed previously to improve RF safety of interventional devices at 1.5T was modified and evaluated for the use at 3T. Improved transformers achieving a higher common mode suppression were built and their signal transmission was measured. A transmission line with six such transformers was characterized and implemented in an active tracking catheter. In this catheter, RF heating during high SAR imaging was limited to 0.4C whereas RF heating by 13.6C occurred for a standard catheter under identical conditions. Active catheter tracking with the transformer catheter in a phantom performed robustly, and tracking projections with high SNR were acquired.