Abstract #3352
MRI-Guided Transvenous Pancreatic Injections
Karmarkar P, Atalar E, Qian D, Arepally A, Barnett B
Johns Hopkins University
There is a growing interest in delivering cellular therapeutics e.g. islet cells, stem cells, etc. to the pancreas for treatment of type II diabetes. We demonstrate the feasibility of delivering therapeutic agents to the pancreas in swine (n=3). The pancreas is accessed from the mesenteric venous system, and using custom active MRI catheters and needle system using real-time MRI guidance to deliver agents to the pancreas. This approach has the potential to accurately deliver agents to the pancreas and surrounding anatomy.