Development of a Catheter-Mounted Cardiac RF Coil for Temperature Imaging in Atrial Fibrillation Treatment

Nelly A. Volland¹, ², Robb Merrill¹, J. Rock Hadley¹, ², Dennis L. Parker¹, ²

Purpose: An expandable catheter-mounted local RF cardiac coil was developed and evaluated. Methods: Elastic fiberglass filaments with predetermined curvature allowed the flexible inductive coil loop to fold and unfold in and out of a sheath. A microcoaxial cable electrically connected the inductive loop to the receiver circuit board through the sheath. For expansion, the support arms were pushed out of the 11 Fr catheter sheath until the loop was fully extended. Results and conclusion: The prototype of an expandable catheter-mounted local cardiac coil was successfully constructed and used to acquire MR images at 3T in a saline phantom.