MRI Guided Cardiac Catheterization Taking XMRF one step further, there is much interest and ongoing research in the use of real-time MRI imaging to guide cardiac catheterization as a supplement to, or instead of, X-ray fluoroscopy. This technique has the potential to minimize or completely eliminate the use of ionizing radiation in cardiac catheterization, a particularly important consideration in the pediatric population. MRI has an established history for guiding diagnostic and interventional procedures, as well as biopsies and neurosurgical procedures, since the 1980s.Its use in cardiac procedures has been technically limited by cardiac and respiratory motion.
Advances in MRI protocols largely overcame these barriers and, in the early 2000s, the first clinical experiences with MRI-guided catheterization were reported. In addition, the feasibility of MRI-guided endomyocardial biopsies…
