Primary Design Concept for Non-metallic Needle for MRI Guided Spinal Applications

Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2019 Jul:2019:1994-1997. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2019.8856995.

Abstract

This work describes an initial design concept for a spinal needle using new materials to optimize their visualization in magnetic resonance imaging. Common MRI needles made of Nickel-Titanium alloys still show poor visibility in imaging because they generate susceptibility artifacts due to material's interactions with the magnetic environment. The use of non-metallic materials can reduce these artifacts. However, so far no non-metallic needle design has made it to clinical routine due to sharpness and cost issues. We propose a design of a coaxial needle with a fiber enforced inner core and an outer hollow sheet. The concept has been evaluated in the MRI environment. Additionally, mechanical tests were performed to examine and quantify the variation between a conventional spinal needle and our proposed design.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Artifacts
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
  • Magnetics
  • Needles*
  • Phantoms, Imaging
  • Spine