A technique for MR-guided needle placement

Abstract

A previously unexplored potential advantage of MR for needle biopsy procedures is the ability of MR to generate cross-sectional images in any plane without patient repositioning. For example, by selectively rotating the scan plane, it is possible to generate an image along the course of an obliquely positioned needle. Thus accurate needle placement would be possible in previously inaccessible areas. We describe a technique for MR-guided needle placement in the head and neck that takes advantage of this flexibility of MR imaging planes and overcomes some of the limitations of previous CT methods for needle localization.