Abstract #4784

Fluoroptic Measurements of MRI-Related Heating at Cardiac Pacemaker Leads in Vivo: Initial Results

Peter Nordbeck¹, Oliver Ritter¹, Michael Friedrich², Michelle Maxfield², Marcus Warmuth³, Philipp Ehses³, Ingo Weiss², Karl-Heinz Hiller⁴, Peter M. Jakob³, Mark E. Ladd⁵, Harald H. Quick⁵, Wolfgang R. Bauer¹

¹Medizinische Klinik I, Universitt Wrzburg, Wrzburg, Germany; ²Biotronik GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin, Germany; ³Experimentelle Physik V, Universitt Wrzburg, Wrzburg, Germany; ⁴Forschungszentrum MRB, Wrzburg, Germany; ⁵Diagnostische und Interventionelle Radiologie, Universitt Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany

Radio frequency-related heating of cardiac pacemaker leads in MRI is a serious concern preventing pacemaker patients to undergo routine MRI. Extensive in vitro investigations focused on this issue over the last years, but until then, in vivo investigations on the topic are very rare. In this study, a reliable method for in vivo temperature measurements at a pacemaker lead tip was developed, utilizing a fluoroptic temperature measurement system to avoid interferences of the measurement system with the MR scanners electromagnetic fields. Initial experiments show that this measurement technique allows for reproducible, precise temperature measurements at the lead tip in vivo.