Diagnostic Accuracy and Procedure Times for 37 Navigated Liver Biopsies in a Closed-Bore MRI Environment

Michael Moche¹, Susann Heinig¹, Gregor Thrmer¹, Nikita Garnov¹, Jochen Fuchs¹, Tim Riedel¹, Thomas Kahn¹, Harald Busse¹

MRI is the method of choice for the definition of suspect liver lesions that are barely or not seen with ultrasound or CT imaging. A definite diagnosis is often made by histological analysis of biopsy samples. In a cylindrical 60-cm bore MRI, the remaining space is practically too small to guide and place the biopsy instrument inside the magnet. This work uses a previously described navigation solution with virtual real-time needle guidance outside the bore and optimized intermediate control scanning. A diagnostic accuracy of 89% and estimated procedure times below 40 min appear to be tolerable for clinical routine.