Passive catheter tracking with a controllable susceptibility effect

Background Due to the rich anatomic information available, MRI is an attractive tool for guiding endovascular interventions. Susceptibility artifact-based tracking using paramagnetic markers [1] is a simple and economical approach, but has been used with limited enthusiasm partly because of the image degradation that results from such devices. In this work, a susceptibility-based tracking catheter which can be mechanically turned ON and OFF [2] is presented with images in phantoms and animals studies.