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Magnetic resonance imaging compatible remote catheter navigation system with 3 degrees of freedom

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International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To facilitate MRI-guided catheterization procedures, we present an MRI-compatible remote catheter navigation system that allows remote navigation of steerable catheters with 3 degrees of freedom.

Methods

The system consists of a user interface (master), a robot (slave), and an ultrasonic motor control servomechanism. The interventionalist applies conventional motions (axial, radial and plunger manipulations) on an input catheter in the master unit; this user input is measured and used by the servomechanism to control a compact catheter manipulating robot, such that it replicates the interventionalist’s input motion on the patient catheter. The performance of the system was evaluated in terms of MRI compatibility (SNR and artifact), feasibility of remote navigation under real-time MRI guidance, and motion replication accuracy.

Results

Real-time MRI experiments demonstrated that catheter was successfully navigated remotely to desired target references in all 3 degrees of freedom. The system had an absolute value error of \({<}\)1 mm in axial catheter motion replication over 30 mm of travel and \(3^{\circ } \pm 2^{\circ }\) for radial catheter motion replication over \(180^{\circ }\). The worst case SNR drop was observed to be \({<}\)3 %; the robot did not introduce any artifacts in the MR images.

Conclusion

An MRI-compatible compact remote catheter navigation system has been developed that allows remote navigation of steerable catheters with 3 degrees of freedom. The proposed system allows for safe and accurate remote catheter navigation, within conventional closed-bore scanners, without degrading MR image quality.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this work was provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Ontario Research Fund. The authors thank Ayda Bashiri and Hristo N. Nikolov for help in the MRI evaluation experiments and Dr. Kevan Anderson for his constructive instructions on catheter modification and development. M.T. and D.G. acknowledge the support of the NSERC Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) Program in Computer-Assisted Medical Interventions (CAMI) at the University of Western Ontario. M.D. is a Career Investigator of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario.

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  1. Imaging Research Laboratories, Robarts Research Institute, Western University, London, ON, N6A 5B9, Canada

    M. A. Tavallaei, M. K. Lavdas, D. Gelman & M. Drangova

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  1. M. A. Tavallaei
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Correspondence to M. A. Tavallaei.

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Tavallaei, M.A., Lavdas, M.K., Gelman, D. et al. Magnetic resonance imaging compatible remote catheter navigation system with 3 degrees of freedom. Int J CARS 11, 1537–1545 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-015-1337-4

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