MR guided needle biopsy under 0.35 T open MR guidance. Preliminary clinical results

Eleven clinical cases successfully underwent MR guided needle puncture and tissue sampling using 0.35 T open MR unit; OPART. A 55 cm opening and MR fluoroscopy was useful to optimize the plane for monitoring the procedure for each case. Even with inadequate time resolution and still limited space, the method was comparable to CT or US guided procedures for some selected indications, because it has multi-plane monitoring capability, no X-ray irradiation and a potential for multi-parameter image monitoring such as T1-, T2, T2*- and temperature. Thus we expect the optimistic future for MR guided procedures with software and hardware evolutions. (author)