MRI-Guided Balloon Angioplasty to Treat Blood Flow Blockage in the Legs

Cardiovascular interventional procedures are minimally-invasive, catheter-based treatments such as coronary artery angioplasty and stenting. These procedures generally can be conducted on awake patients with few complications, and were developed as alternatives to conventional open surgery. Conventional cardiovascular interventional procedures are conducted by physician manipulating medical devices inside patients under the guidance of fluoroscopic x-ray.

We have developed minimally-invasive cardiovascular interventional procedures using real-time magnetic resonance imaging. These procedures have the advantage of excellent imaging without surgery and without ionizing radiation exposure or toxic contrast agents (dyes). Moreover, because real time MRI can produce excellent images of soft tissue, blood, and of three-dimensional structures, it may be possible to guide minimally-invasive procedures not possible even with invasive surgery.

A state-of-the-art combined X-ray and MRI interventional suite has been constructed and equipped with real-time MRI image reconstruction for interventional experiments, patient monitoring and transport equipment for dual imaging modalities, and large-mammal preclinical simulation experiments. Preclinical experiments in a porcine model of surgical aortic coarctation have shown that real-time MRI guided percutaneous intervention can be conducted using entirely commercially-available devices approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

The goal of this protocol is to test clinical peripheral artery revascularization procedures guided wholly-or in part by real-time MRI.