Device localization and dynamic scan plane selection using a wireless magnetic resonance imaging detector array

Wireless Powered Encoding and Broadcasting of Frequency Modulated Detection Signals

Wireless transmission of locally detected RF signals is necessary for long-term operation of batteryless and embedded transducers. To improve signal transmission efficiency over larger distances, multi-stage circuits were employed to down-convert RF signals before encoding them onto the emitted carrier wave. Such multi-stage arrangement had complicated design and high-power consumption. Here, a compact and low-power wireless modulator is introduced to directly encode input RF signals onto its oscillation carrier wave. The modulator consists of a double frequency parametric resonator that is overlaid with a single frequency passive resonator to create three resonance modes. By properly adjusting the substrate thickness between resonators, the highest resonance frequency is tuned to approximately the sum of lower two resonance frequencies, enabling efficient conversion of wireless pumping power into sustained oscillation currents. When an input RF signal is present with a certain frequency offset, the oscillation signal can be frequency modulated by the input signal to create multiple modulation sidebands separated by the offset frequency. The frequency encoded carrier wave can transmit MRI signals over larger distance separations to maintain constant image sensitivity, making the modulator useful to improve the remote detectability of miniaturized implantable and interventional devices.

Wireless Reconfigurable RF Detector Array for Focal and Multiregional Signal Enhancement

Wirelessly Amplified NMR Detectors (WAND) can utilize wireless pumping power to amplify MRI signals in situ for sensitivity enhancement of deep-lying tissues that are difficult to access by conventional surface coils. To reconfigure between selective and simultaneous activation in a multielement array, each WAND has a dipole resonance mode for MR signal acquisition and two butterfly modes that support counter-rotating current circulation. Because detectors in the same row share the same lower butterfly frequency but different higher butterfly frequency, a pumping signal at the sum frequency of the dipole mode and the higher butterfly mode can selectively activate individual resonators, leading to 4-fold sensitivity gain over passive coupling. Meanwhile, a pumping signal at the sum frequency of the dipole mode and the lower butterfly mode can simultaneously activate multiple resonators in the same row, leading to 3-fold sensitivity gain over passive coupling. When multiple rows of detectors are parallelly aligned, each row has a unique lower butterfly frequency for consecutive activation during the acquisition interval of the others. This wireless detector array can be embedded beneath a headpost that is normally required for multi-modal brain imaging, enabling easy reconfiguration between focal imaging of individual vessels and multiregional mapping of brain connectivity.

Touchless scanner control to support MRI-guided interventions

PURPOSE

MRI-guided interventions allow minimally invasive, radiation-free treatment but rely on real-time image data and free slice positioning. Interventional interaction with the data and the MRI scanner is cumbersome due to the diagnostic focus of current systems, confined space and sterile conditions.

METHODS

We present a touchless, hand-gesture-based interaction concept to control functions of the MRI scanner typically used during MRI-guided interventions. The system consists of a hand gesture sensor customised for MRI compatibility and a specialised UI that was developed based on clinical needs. A user study with 10 radiologists was performed to compare the gesture interaction concept and its components to task delegation-the prevalent method in clinical practice.

RESULTS

Both methods performed comparably in terms of task duration and subjective workload. Subjective performance with gesture input was perceived as worse compared to task delegation, but was rated acceptable in terms of usability while task delegation was not.

CONCLUSION

This work contributes by (1) providing access to relevant functions on an MRI scanner during percutaneous interventions in a (2) suitable way for sterile human-computer interaction. The introduced concept removes indirect interaction with the scanner via an assistant, which leads to comparable subjective workload and task completion times while showing higher perceived usability.

Enabling Technology for MRI-Guided Intervention

The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for image-guided intervention poses both great opportunity and challenges. Although MRI is distinguished by its excellent contrast resolution and lack of ionizing radiation, it was not till the 1990s that technologic innovations allowed for adoption of MRI as a guidance modality for intervention. With advances in magnet, protocol, coil, biopsy needle, and ablation probe design, MRI has emerged as a viable, and increasingly, preferable alternative to other image guidance modalities. With the development of targeting software, augmented reality, robotic assist devices, and MR thermometry, the future of MRI-guided interventions remains promising.