Imaging and localizing interventional devices by susceptibility mapping using MRI

MRI has been used for imaging interventional procedures with devices such as brachytherapy seeds, biopsy needles, markers, and stents. However, the high susceptibility of these devices leads to signal loss and distortion in the MRI images. Previously, we proposed a method to generate positive contrast of the brachytherapy seeds using a regularized L₁ minimization algorithm. In this paper, we further developed and tested the method to image larger interventional devices based on susceptibility mapping. Computer simulations and experiments were performed using phantoms made of platinum wires and titanium needles. The results show that the proposed method provide positive contrast images of devices, therefore improves the visualization and localization of the devices.