Unmet Need:
In the United States, there are approximately 2,000,000 patients living with Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs), which are used to prevent cardiac arrhythmias by electronically pacing the heart when arrhythmia signals are detected. When implanted in the chest, the magnetic field from these ICDs can interfere with MRI imaging of the heart and greater vessels, leaving a black hole on the resulting patient images. This can interfere with diagnoses and treatments, and therefore, there is a need to counteract this impact of ICDs on MRI images.
Technology Overview
Engineers at the Johns Hopkins University have designed a force-balanced static magnetic field shim coil which can counter the magnetic field distortion caused by ICDs during MRI imaging and thereby permit imaging of the heart regions that currently cannot be imaged. The device is placed in the bore of the MRI machine, and when driven by appropriate electrical currents, allows for proper images to be taken of patients with implanted ICDs.
Stage of Development
The technology has been evaluated in phantoms and swine models with overlaid ICDs and the preliminary results published in journal abstracts. An NIH SBIR phase 1 award was made in Mid-2022. The cardiac shim coil is currently mounted on a cantilevered robotic arm, which is operated remotely from outside the MRI room and rapidly brings the shim coil to the optimal location for reducing the ICD magnetic field distortion, substantially improving the procedure workflow.
