Combined Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Ultrasound Echography Guidance for Motion Compensated HIFU Interventions

Mario Ries¹, ², Baudouin Denis de Senneville¹, ², Yvan Regard², Chrit Moonen¹, ²

MR-guided high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablations on continuously moving organs, such as the liver and the kidney requires MRI to full-fill two roles simultaneously: 1) MRI has to provide anatomical information with high spatio-temporal resolution and low image latency to provide target tracking information. 2) Motion corrected MR-thermometry provides the basis for retro-active power control and allows monitoring the progression of the ablation process. This feasibility study investigates the possibility to use ultrasound (US) echography as an additional imaging modality for continuous target tracking, while performing simultaneously real-time MR-thermometry to guide the HIFU ablation process.