The guidewire design, and its coupled system, enables interventionalists to visualize the location of the tip and distal shaft of an MRI compatible guidewire relative to the vascular system and surrounding anatomy.

Available for licensing and commercial development is a guidewire device and system for MRI guidance of vascular interventions.  The guidewire design, and its coupled system, enables interventionalists to visualize the location of the tip and distal shaft of an MRI compatible guidewire relative to the vascular system and surrounding anatomy.  Visualization of both the shaft and tip enables interventionalists to advance the guidewire through tortuous vessels reducing the risk of puncturing vessel walls and also steering it through labyrinthine vasculature.  The guidewire provided by the present invention includes distal and proximal ends with a space therein, a dipole antenna disposed in the space reserved within the guidewire body, the dipole antenna being adapted to be electrically connected to a signal processing system through a first signal channel through the proximal end of the guidewire body, and a loop antenna disposed in the space reserved within the guidewire body toward the distal end of the guidewire body, the loop antenna being adapted to be electrically connected to the signal processing system through a second signal channel through the proximal end of the guidewire body.  The dipole antenna and the loop antenna are each constructed to receive magnetic resonance imaging signals independently of each other and to transmit received signals through the first and second signal channels, respectively, to be received by the signal processing system.  More specifically, both loop and dipole antenna are tuned to resonate at the same Larmour frequency as produced by the magnet.

 

Applications:

• Interventional cardiology
• MRI guided surgery

 

Publications:

1. GC McKinnon et al. Towards active guidewire visualization in interventional magnetic resonance imaging. MAGMA. 1996 Mar;4(1):13-18.  [PubMed abs]
2. ME Ladd et al. Active MR visualization of a vascular guidewire in vivo. J Magn Reson Imaging. 1998 Jan-Feb;8(1):220-225.  [PubMed abs]

U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/006,265 filed 03 Jan 2008 (HHS Reference No. E-209-2007/0-US-01)

 

Inventors:

Ozgur Kocaturk (NHLBI)

 

 

Licensees Sought:

Available for licensing.

 

Collaborative Research Opportunity:

The National Institutes of Health / Cardiac Catheter Core Lab is seeking statements of capability or interest from parties interested in collaborative research to further develop, evaluate, or commercialize Active two channel 0.035” guidewire.  Please contact Ozgur Kocaturk at 301-402-9430 or kocaturko@nhlbi.nih.gov.