Real-time Automatic Passive Catheter Tracking During MR-guided Cardiac Catheterization

MR-guided cardiac catheterization procedures currently employ passive tracking approaches to follow the gadolinium-filled catheter balloon during catheter navigation. This requires frequent manual tracking and repositioning of the imaging slice, especially when the catheter moves out-of-plane during the procedure. In this study, we developed a novel MRI guidance approach that enables automatic real-time tracking of the catheter balloon and repositioning of the imaging slice for continuous visualization of the balloon during catheter navigation. We first demonstrate the proposed approach in a phantom and subsequently present an initial evaluation in patients.