Ehud Schmidt1, Jeremy D. Dando2, Robert D. Darrow3, Daniel Kacher1, Laurence M. Epstein4, Ferenc Jolesz1, Charles L. Dumoulin5, Vivek Y. Reddy6
1Radiology, Brigham and Womens Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; 2Atrial Fibrillation Division, St. Jude Medical, Minnetonka, MA, USA; 3GE Global Research, Niskayuna, NY, USA; 4Cardiology, Brigham and Womens Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; 5Radiology, Cincinnati Childrens Hospital, Cincinnati, OH, USA; 6Cardiology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
An MRI-compatible Electro-Physiology catheter was constructed with positional tracking elements using both MRI Tracking micro-coils and St Jude NavX non-MRI, Voltage based, tracking. The catheter was tested in a Left Atrial Phantom inside an MRI. Simultaneous low-receiver bandwidth (+16 and +32 KHz) MR Tracking at 20 fps and Navx Tracking at 12 fps was possible. High Bandwidth (+128 KHz) Real-time MR Imaging disturbed the NavX tracking, but intermittent use of imaging and NavX tracking was possible, since the Navx system returned to the same position after each MRI scan.