MRI RF catheter coil
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A radio frequency coil adapter for use in interventional magnetic resonance imaging, the coil comprising:
- a loop of an elongated electric conductor having outward and return portions arranged to form a twisted pair; and
means for operating the coil in both transmit and receive modes, wherein, when in the receive mode, said coil has a net sensitivity to nuclear magnetic resonance signals only from tissue substantially adjacent thereto, and, when in the transmit mode, said coil excites only tissue substantially adjacent thereto without substantially affecting bulk tissue magnetization.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A radio frequency coil (12, 19) adapted for use in interventional magnetic resonance imaging consists of a loop of an elongated electric conductor arranged to form a twisted wire pair (12, 19) and means associated with it for operating the coil both in transmit and receive mode, in order that the coil does not image anything but tracks its own path on an MR image, without affecting the magnetization in the main bulk of the body being imaged.
201 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A radio frequency coil adapter for use in interventional magnetic resonance imaging, the coil comprising:
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a loop of an elongated electric conductor having outward and return portions arranged to form a twisted pair; and
means for operating the coil in both transmit and receive modes, wherein, when in the receive mode, said coil has a net sensitivity to nuclear magnetic resonance signals only from tissue substantially adjacent thereto, and, when in the transmit mode, said coil excites only tissue substantially adjacent thereto without substantially affecting bulk tissue magnetization. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of interventional magnetic resonance imaging, the method comprising the steps of:
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inserting a patient to be imaged in an imaging region of a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus;
placing a coil within the patient, said coil being substantially decoupled from a transmit coil and said coil comprising a loop of elongated electrical conductor, the conductor having outward and return portions arranged to form a twisted pair; and
,operating the coil as a transmitter and as a receiver during respective portions of a magnetic resonance excitation and detection sequence so as to obtain an indication of a position of the coil in relation to surrounding anatomy of the patient. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
inserting a catheter within the patient to be imaged; and
inserting the loop within the catheter.
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13. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of using the coil to guide the application of a medical instrument.
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14. The method of claim 13 wherein the medical instrument is a catheter.
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15. The method according to claim 13 further comprising the step of removing the coil from the patient.
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16. A method of magnetic resonance imaging comprising the steps of:
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(a) applying an r.f. pulse sequence and gradient pulse sequence in the presence of a main magnetic field in order to produce an MR image of a patient;
(b) inserting a coil within the anatomy of the patient, the coil comprising an electrical conductor wound in a bifilar configuration;
(c) applying an r.f. transmission pulse sequence to the coil and detecting resulting relaxation signals with the coil in order to produce an image of the coils'"'"'s path; and
,(d) superimposing the image of the coil'"'"'s path on the MR image of the patient so as to obtain an indication of the location of the coil in relation to the anatomy of the patient. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
(e) carrying out an additional step (b) following step (c) without waiting for a bulk magnetization of the patient to be restored.
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Specification