First Clinical Experience with Navigated RF Ablations of the Liver in a Closed-Bore 1.5T MRI

Daniel Seider¹, Harald Busse¹, Nikita Garnov¹, Gregor Thrmer¹, Susann Heinig¹, Tim Riedel¹, Thomas Kahn¹, Michael Moche¹

MRI is well suited to guide percutaneous interventions of liver lesions that are hardly visible with ultrasound or CT. Dedicated open MR systems are often used because they provide good patient access. This work presents first clinical experience with a new navigation solution that was used during RF ablation of liver tumors in a standard closed-bore scanner environment. After a special breathhold training, even double oblique access paths could be realized. RFA probe and thermally induced lesion could be reliably visualized with a VIBE sequence. While technical efforts are higher the times for needle placement and thermal ablation are comparable to those under CT guidance.