MRI Needle Guidance via Compressed Sensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current MRI-guided needle placement procedures face challenges in achieving high spatial and temporal resolution simultaneously, leading to interruptions in the insertion process due to the need for slow high-resolution verification images, which slows down the overall procedure.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a compressed sensing approach in MRI techniques that utilizes a pre-determined needle path, known artifact effects, and unchanging images away from the path to generate high-resolution images in real-time, allowing for continuous needle advancement without interruptions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If high spatial resolution imaging is used to verify needle position, then measurement precision is improved, but acquisition time increases significantly causing procedure interruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by acquiring a high-resolution planning image before needle insertion and using it to determine the predetermined needle path. During the actual procedure, only fast low-resolution images are acquired for continuous monitoring, eliminating the need for repeated high-resolution verification images and thus reducing procedure time while maintaining positioning accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies partial action by using compressed sensing to acquire and reconstruct images at reduced sampling rates during the procedure. This allows obtaining sufficient information for needle positioning without acquiring full high-resolution data continuously, thereby reducing acquisition time while maintaining adequate measurement precision for guidance.
2Speed
If fast imaging sequences are used for continuous monitoring, then acquisition speed is improved, but spatial resolution deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
High-resolution planning images are acquired before the procedure to establish the predetermined needle path and identify anatomical structures. This preliminary high-resolution data compensates for the lower resolution of fast images acquired during the procedure, allowing continuous monitoring at high speed without sacrificing overall spatial resolution requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different image quality standards to different procedural phases: high resolution is used for planning and verification (where precision is critical), while lower resolution fast imaging is used for continuous monitoring during needle advancement (where speed is more important). This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by matching image quality to procedural needs.
3Measurement precision
If high-resolution verification images are acquired periodically, then needle positioning accuracy is improved, but productivity decreases due to workflow interruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The predetermined needle path is established from high-resolution planning images before the procedure begins. This preliminary action allows the operator to continuously monitor needle advancement using fast low-resolution images without needing to periodically stop for high-resolution verification, thereby maintaining positioning accuracy while eliminating workflow interruptions and improving productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables continuous needle advancement by acquiring fast images throughout the procedure without interruptions. The predetermined path guidance allows continuous monitoring and adjustment without periodic high-resolution verification stops, maintaining continuous useful action (needle insertion) while ensuring adequate positioning accuracy through the pre-established path constraints.
Data Source
AI summary
A magnetic resonance method and system are provided for magnetic resonance (MR) image-guided insertion of an object into a biological tissue along a predetermined trajectory. The trajectory provides a path between a starting point and a target site within the tissue. Sufficiently high resolution images can be generated in real time to precisely guide the needle placement. A compressed sensing approach is used to generate the images based on minimization of a cost function, where the cost function is based on the predetermined needle path, artifact effects associated with the needle, the negligible changes in the images away from the trajectory, and the limited differences between successive images. The improved combination of spatial and temporal resolution facilitates an insertion procedure that can be continuously adjusted to accurately follow a predetermined trajectory in the tissue, without interruptions to obtain verification images.