CLINICAL APPLICATIONS

The I³MRI Catheter is inserted into a vessel, such as the coronary artery. The insertion process is identical to that used for conventional angiography or cardiac catheterization. As the I³MRI catheter is moved through the vessel, the location and orientation (direction) of the catheter tip is continuously tracked by I³MRI software residing on the MR scanner, thereby allowing the MR scanner to target the vessel region containing the catheter tip.

The software, resident on the MR system, provides the physician with two images – a panoramic view of the cardiovascular system and a cross-sectional high resolution arterial wall image. The panoramic view is used to highlight the current catheter location and orientation. The arterial wall image (displayed here) is used to detect abnormalities such as atherosclerotic plaque. The software’s automatic dynamic movement adjustment reduces procedure time, allowing the physician to move quickly until a potential abnormality is observed, whereupon more detailed images can be obtained. The adaptive image quality capability allows the interventional physician to rapidly insert the catheter through large segments of the vascular tree while watching modest quality images for areas of suspected pathology. By slowing insertion, image quality improves without user intervention to increase image detail. Thus, the system adapts between a “survey” mode and an “interrogation” mode automatically.

Caution: I³MRI's products have not been approved by the the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA)  for human use.