MRPen 3D Marker Tracking for Percutaneous Interventions

Florian Maier¹, Axel Joachim Krafft¹, Andr de Oliveira², Wolfhard Semmler¹, Michael Bock¹

In percutanous MR-guided interventions passive markers are used to delineate the position or the trajectory of rigid instruments, e.g. needles. In this work, a modified passive marker and a modified passive tracking pulse sequence are proposed. Based on the 3D position and rotation of the marker an imaging slice is automatically adjusted in real time. Measurements indicate that the marker design combined with the pulse sequence allows an accurate rotation estimation and 3D tracking of rigid instruments. Thus, the choice of an optimal needle trajectory in percutaneous interventions is highly facilitated and under manual control of the operator.