A group led by presenter Bryan Bednarz, PhD, developed the device in collaboration with GE Healthcare's Global Research Center in Niskayuna, NY. It consists of an MR-compatible, electronically steered volumetric ultrasound probe that can be used to track tumor or vessel motion during radiation therapy. The transducer includes 18,000 piezoelectric elements and is designed to have a maximum imaging depth of 15 cm, with 2-mm lateral resolution at 7 cm, the researchers wrote.
The group acquired simultaneous MR and ultrasound images of one healthy volunteer's liver using the new probe. No significant artifacts were found during the acquisition, the researchers noted.
"The hands-free, electronically steerable e4D transducer can acquire ultrasound images during a MR acquisition without impacting either the MR or ultrasound [image] quality," Bednarz and colleagues concluded. "This technology may be applied to other image-guided procedures (e.g., proton therapy, biopsies, and drug delivery)."
