Gene Payne1,2,
Sathya Vijayakumar1,2, Eugene Kholmovski1,2, Jayne
Davis3, Josh Blauer, 2,4, Chris Gloschat, 2,4,
Kimberly Lilbok5, Rob MacLeod, 3,4, Dennis Parker1,2,
Nassir F. Marrouche5
1UCAIR, Department of Radiology,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States; 2CARMA
Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States; 3CVRTI,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States; 4Dept. of
Biomedical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United
States; 5Dept. of Cardiology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City,
UT, United States
While
imaging subjects in an MRI scanner, it may sometimes be necessary to
de-fibrillate in order to restore sinus rhythm or resuscitate. Normal
de-fibrillator equipment is incompatible with the scanner's magnetic field.
Presented is a procedure for de-fibrillating inside the MRI environment. With
this procedure, the defibrillator unit was located outside the MRI
environment, with select non-ferrous equipment inside and on the subject.
This procedure was employed on four separate occasions with an animal subject
on the scanner table, and was found to be successful. No problems or safety
concerns were observed.