Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided therapeutic interventions have been developed since the mid-1990s, building on the multiple inter-tissue contrasts and lack of ionizing radiation that magnetic resonance (MR) offers. Several of the technically simpler interventions, such as oncological biopsies and MRI-guided laser ablation, are extensively performed in humans, while more difficult interventions have met with substantial roadblocks to adaptation. Catheter-based interventions in small or physiologically-moving blood vessels are a notable example, where the need for technical imaging solutions and lack of proper devices have hindered human applications. We focus on recently developed methods that resolve or attempt to resolve, existing problems, possibly bringing an interventional MRI field into reality.
In this Research Topic, we will detail recent MR hardware, MR software, and imaging processing developments relevant to interventional MRI and discuss the integration of new methods such as accelerated MRI imaging, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Combined diagnostic and therapeutic procedures that use MRI, such as using MR for thermal therapy monitoring or MRI-guided adaptive radiation therapy, will also be discussed. The project goal is to address specific problems that limit the use of interventional MRI (iMRI) for treating specific diseases or for addressing pathologies in specific body regions and attempt to resolve these issues with innovative solutions.
The solutions presented in topical papers can range over; use of new software, new hardware, new MRI sequences, new hardware devices, methods to alleviate the risk of devices causing subject heating in the MRI scanner, new spatial localization and remote movement/guidance methods, and MRI scanners that operate at lower frequencies or have novel geometries. In addition, we welcome new image processing and Artificial Intelligence methods that can solve or reduce the complexity of current iMRI issues. We also accept reviews of newly developed clinical applications, focused on the methods used in developing such applications.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided therapeutic interventions have been developed since the mid-1990s, building on the multiple inter-tissue contrasts and lack of ionizing radiation that magnetic resonance (MR) offers. Several of the technically simpler interventions, such as oncological biopsies and MRI-guided laser ablation, are extensively performed in humans, while more difficult interventions have met with substantial roadblocks to adaptation. Catheter-based interventions in small or physiologically-moving blood vessels are a notable example, where the need for technical imaging solutions and lack of proper devices have hindered human applications. We focus on recently developed methods that resolve or attempt to resolve, existing problems, possibly bringing an interventional MRI field into reality.
In this Research Topic, we will detail recent MR hardware, MR software, and imaging processing developments relevant to interventional MRI and discuss the integration of new methods such as accelerated MRI imaging, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Combined diagnostic and therapeutic procedures that use MRI, such as using MR for thermal therapy monitoring or MRI-guided adaptive radiation therapy, will also be discussed. The project goal is to address specific problems that limit the use of interventional MRI (iMRI) for treating specific diseases or for addressing pathologies in specific body regions and attempt to resolve these issues with innovative solutions.
The solutions presented in topical papers can range over; use of new software, new hardware, new MRI sequences, new hardware devices, methods to alleviate the risk of devices causing subject heating in the MRI scanner, new spatial localization and remote movement/guidance methods, and MRI scanners that operate at lower frequencies or have novel geometries. In addition, we welcome new image processing and Artificial Intelligence methods that can solve or reduce the complexity of current iMRI issues. We also accept reviews of newly developed clinical applications, focused on the methods used in developing such applications.
