Abstract #1751

A Miniaturized Optical Link for an Active Intravascular MR-Device

Stephan Fandrey¹, Steffen Weiss², Jrg Mller¹

¹Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany; ²Imaging Systems & Intervention, Philips Research Europe, Hamburg, Germany

A miniaturized all-optical active MR-probe for catheter guidance and intravascular imaging in MR-guided interventions is demonstrated. The probe transmits the MR-signal received by a foil-based micro-coil via an optical fiber to the MR-receiver and is equipped with an optical power supply, making the system inherently RF-safe. Miniaturization of the probe firstly allowed the integration into a 6F catheter tube. Projection-based tip tracking and high resolution MR imaging were successfully performed in phantom with a significantly improved SNR compared to a previously presented system, which now is comparable to the SNR of direct electrical signal transmission.