the present invention discloses a novel magnetic neurosurgery apparatus , wherein neurosurgical procedures can be performed using a combination of mss navigational methods and mri imaging guidance . the present invention discloses a means of integrating the image acquisition , surgeon / operator interface , and control systems for the hybrid interactive utilization of mss and mri , wherein said systems interactively carry out target definition , localization , trajectory planning , and verification of the final position of a probe within the target , as well as perform on - line tracking and monitoring of the intervention . as used herein , “ image ” means the data that represents the spatial layout of anatomical or functional features of a patient , which may or may not be actually represented in visible graphical form . “ imaging modality ” means the method by which an image is obtained , for example , mri , x - ray , ct . “ fiducial marker ” means a feature or object that can be used for image analysis , matching , or registration of images . “ segmentation ” is the method of dividing an image into areas which have some physical significance . “ transformation ” means processing an image so that it altered according to specified criteria . “ registration ” means an alignment process by which two images are positioned coincident with each other so that corresponding points appear in the same position on the registered images . “ probe ” means any medical device or instrument , or plurality of said devices or instruments , that are used to deliver image - guided therapy to the human body . “ superhost computer ” means the computational system that is used to operate more than one function related to the performance of each of the mri apparatus and the mss apparatus . preferably the superhost or master computational system will perform all aspects of the mss and mri , except for subsidiary and localized functions where a single chip might suffice , such as a warning device indicating that a coupling of elements is not correct , or there is a localized leak of material from a transport line , standard patient monitoring systems ( e . g ., ekg or eeg ) or a warning light that a temperature has been exceeded on a distal component . the master computational system may operate either system separately , or in any combined manner . by at least two functions , it is meant that the master computer system will have at least two functions for each unit selected from such functions as receiving electronic data , storing electronic data , treating electronic data ( e . g ., compressing , expanding , enhancing , comparing , mathematically manipulating , etc . ), sending electronic data ( e . g ., to a monitor , an internet address or host ), indicating a change in conditions based upon received or compared data or signals , directing operation of equipment ( e . g ., altering fields within the mss to guide a medical device , signaling the gantry or gurney to move , operating the mri imaging function , and any other computational or operational function which can be practiced or performed by a computer . a ) magnetic resonance imaging apparatus having an area within which a patient may be placed for performance of magnetic resonance imaging , b ) magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance apparatus having an area within which a patient may be placed for performance of magnetic guidance of medical devices , the operating theater having a support for a patient which can be transported along a path between the area within which a patient may be placed for performance of magnetic resonance imaging and the area within which a patient may be placed for performance of magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance of medical devices , the path moving through a plane with magnetic shielding within the plane between the magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and the magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance apparatus . the operating theater may have the support for a patient comprising a sled arrangement on tracks between the magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and the magnetic guidance apparatus . the support may , for example , be moved along the tracks by a motor . the magnetic resonance imaging system may have a computer electronically associated therewith which receives data from the magnetic resonance imaging system to create an electronic image . the computer may also be electronically associated with the magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance apparatus so that selected signals to the computer effect a signal from the computer to said magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance apparatus to vary magnetic fields within the magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance apparatus , which magnetic fields are able to guide a medical device . the computer may have the ability to overlay a prospective path for guidance of a medical device by the magnetic guidance apparatus onto said electronic image . the computer may also be electronically associated with the magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance apparatus so that selected signals to the computer effect a signal from the computer to the magnetic guidance apparatus to vary magnetic fields within the magnetic guidance apparatus , which magnetic fields are able to guide a medical device . the magnetic resonance imaging system may have a computer electronically associated therewith which receives data from the magnetic resonance imaging system and operates upon the received data from the magnetic resonance imaging system to create an electronic image . another aspect of the present invention comprises a method of performing a medical treatment comprising the steps of obtaining an electronic image of a patient on a support by magnetic resonance imaging and storing the electronic image on a computer , moving a patient while the patient remains on the support to magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance apparatus , the moving being performed on a track which is secured between an apparatus which performs the magnetic resonance imaging and the magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance apparatus , and operating the magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance apparatus with reference to the electronic image or a visual image generated from the electronic image to guide a medical device through the patient . the method may have as the support a gantry or gurney , and said gantry or gurney may move on tracks which are fixed in relationship to the magnetic resonance apparatus and the magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance apparatus . as noted elsewhere , the method may have the electronic image overlaid with a prospective path for guidance of a medical device through the patient . this can be done in many different visualization fashions , such as where a physician views a monitor displaying the electronic image to track progression of a medical device along the prospective path . the physician may determine that actual movement of the medical device deviates by an undesirable amount , so that the physician stops movement of the medical device by the magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance apparatus . then , after stopping movement of the medical device , the magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance device is operated for at least a period of time in which the physician alters the prospective path by input to the computer . also , the procedure may includes steps where after said medical device has been guided and moved through said patient by the magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance apparatus , the magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance system is stopped , the patient is returned to the magnetic resonance imaging apparatus while remaining on the support , a second magnetic resonance electronic image is created by the magnetic resonance imaging apparatus , and the position of the medical device within the patient is determined from the second electronic image . where the physician determines that conditions affected by the medical device are undesirable , the physician stops movement of the medical device by the magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance apparatus . some general features of the magnetic neurosurgery apparatus will be described next , with particular regard to the means of integrating the image acquisition , surgeon / operator interface , and control systems for the hybrid interactive utilization of mss and mri . it should be understood , however , that specific embodiments of the methods of the invention will depend on the location and accessibility of the lesion or other target within the body , and the nature of the medical probe to be advanced to the target location and the therapeutic or diagnostic procedure to be carried out there . thus , target definition , localization , trajectory planning , and verification of the final position of a probe within the target , as well as the performance of on - line tracking and monitoring of the intervention , may vary depending on the exact nature of the endovascular , intracerebroventricular , or intraparenchymal procedure ( and the location of the target lesion ). fig1 shows a flow diagram of one route which may be followed in the practice of the present invention . a patient is first positioned within an mri unit to provide an image which is to be used during the implantation or positioning of a medical device for use in a medical procedure ( for treatment or diagnosis ). an mri image is taken and recorded on the master computer system . at this point or after subsequent movement of the patient to the mss unit , a projected or prospective path of movement of a medical device through the patient is estimated or determined . this prospective path may be created by use of a monitor and responsive light pen or contact pen , joystick , keyboard control , mouse or other directing device , the activity of these instruments on the screen adding data to the mri image . the data is received by the computer and then overlaid onto the electronic mri image by the computer . after the patient has been moved to the associated or attached mss unit , the mri image with the prospective path is used in the movement of the medical device by the mss unit . although the unit may guide and direct the medical device in a fully automatic mode , the system would most often be used in an automatic mode which is monitored by an appropriate medical professional ( e . g ., surgeon , technician , nurse , etc .) who may interrupt the automatic function and stop or redirect the mss apparatus , or the image is used completely manually as a road map by the surgeon . after the medical device has been moved at least a significant amount by the mss apparatus ( e . g ., at least so far that some additional monitoring may be necessary or desirable ), up to and including completion of the entire prospective path of the medical device , the patient is returned to the mri unit . a second mri image of the patient and the position of the medical device is taken and stored ( storage means at least temporary retention on a hard drive for viewing the image on a monitor and may include a more permanent storage on a disk , cassette or hard drive ). the second image is compared with the prospective path , with the medical professionals determining the appropriate course of action ( repositioning , retracking a portion of the traversed path , continued advancement of the medical device , initiation of the diagnosis or therapy upon attainment of the proper position by the medical device , etc .). these procedures may be repeated as many times as is necessary to the conclusion of the intended medical procedure . it should be noted , as mentioned elsewhere herein , that where the mss procedure uses a medical device with a magnetic element or magnetic responsive element which would interfere with the mri imaging or which might be moved by the mri magnetic fields , the magnetic element should be retracted or removed from any portion of the field of the mri imaging where it would be disadvantageous for the magnetic element to be present . the magnetic element or magnetically responsive element would be replaced to an appropriate position when the mss procedure was later continued . fig2 is a schematic representation of the magnetic neurosurgery apparatus showing the relationship of the mri 1 and mss 2 components . a patient 3 requiring an image - guided therapeutic intervention is placed on a sliding gantry 4 in the room housing the magnetic neurosurgery apparatus . a patient undergoes a high - resolution mr scan of the brain or other target tissue to anatomically localize in 3d the location of the target tissues requiring image - guided treatment utilizing a medical probe . the resulting high - resolution 3d mr image is automatically segmented to produce enhanced visualization of the anatomy of the target lesion and the surrounding tissues . the imaging data is also registered to the patient &# 39 ; s anatomy so that trajectories for advancing and placing the medical probe can be defined , and so that the position of the device within the patient can be depicted on displayed images . a first surgical pit 5 may be provided outside of the mri imaging system 1 , along the path of the gurney 4 . other doagnostic or therapeutic stations may be located at various sites between the mss 2 and the mri 1 systems . shown merely for purposes of example , without limitation as to the type or number of procedures and their location within the total system , fig2 shows a separate apparatus 6 between the mri system 1 and the mss system 2 which could be a laser surgery station , cryogenic station ( e . g ., with liquid helium or liquid nitrogen ), or any other medical diagnostic or therapeutic apparatus . a full body surgical pit 7 may also be provided within the system . such variations , alternatives and design changes , once the fundamentals of the system have been disclosed by this patent to the ordinarily skilled artisan , are apparent . a fundamental requirement for mr monitoring of therapeutic interventions is implementation of mr pulse sequences with appropriate spatial and temporal resolution . for monitoring purposes , several mr sequences are known in the art that have adequate temporal resolution to be useful with the present invention . preferred are pulse sequences such as fast spin echo pulse sequences , various gradient echo pulse sequences , and echo - planar pulse sequences , which produce reasonably high - resolution images with a short (& lt ; 1 second ) acquisition time . the mr images are automatically transferred to the superhost computer 8 and thereafter used to control the mss in real time or near real time . the mr images are preferably computed using a recursive formulation of the correlation method , such as , for example , described by cox et al . ( magn . reson . med ., 33 : 230 - 236 ( 1995 )), wherein multiple linear regression of the voxel time series is performed against known reference waveforms , thereby producing up - to - date mr images within 1 second of data acquisition . in the mr imaging method described by cox et al ., data are acquired at 1 6 16 - bit samples / second for all pulse sequences , and are digitally filtered and subsampled to the desired bandwidth before reconstruction . the amount of cpu time spent is proportional to the number of raw data points , such that a 64 × 64 image matrix typically takes 80 - 100 milliseconds and a 128 × 128 image matrix typically takes 200 - 400 milliseconds . the widespread availability of high speed , high precision a / d converters and low inductance local gradient coils makes it possible to perform real - time imaging and reconstruct an entire region of anatomy , such as the brain , in a few seconds . in the method of the present invention , the mr images also provide 3 - d information about the initial position of the probe on the surface of the body relative to the target lesion . the mri data is automatically entered into the mss superhost computer 8 interface to instruct the system how far , how fast and in what step sizes to move the probe . this can be done by using cursor cross hairs , screen contact pencils , virtual drawing system , mouse , or other graphic or viewable drafting systems that show the location of the probe tip on a computer screen superimposed on the most recently acquired mr image . the surgeon then enables the computer to instruct the mss system to execute the required incrementally - stepped movement of the probe tip by using its control algorithm to produce magnetic fields that steer the magnetic tip of the probe . biplanar fluoroscopic images are obtained during the movement sequence to localize the new position of the tip of the probe as it is advanced towards the target . the resulting x - ray information is automatically sent to the superhost computer 8 , wherein instant updating against the ‘ road map ’ of anatomical mr images of body tissues is performed , such that intraoperative biplanar x - ray images of the mss fluoroscope system are superimposed and registered on the mr imaging ‘ background .’ the operation of the magnetic neurosurgery apparatus is controlled from an operator console 9 , which includes a keyboard and control panel 10 and a display 11 . the console 91 communicates with the superhost computer 8 to enable an operator ( not shown ) to control the display of images on the screen 11 . the superhost computer may include a number of modules , including and image processing module 12 , a cpu module 13 , and a memory module 14 to integrate the operation of the mri system 1 and the mss 2 components . the operator console 9 is also linked to the superhost computer 8 by way of a pulse generatior module 15 to operate the system components so as to carry out the correct mri scan sequence . the superhost computer is also connected to a patient data controller 16 which received physiological signals from the patient , such as ekg and ecg signals , during patient imaging and treatment . the superhost computer 8 controls a patient positioning module 17 to move the patient to the desired location for mri or mss procedures . the magnetic neurosurgery apparatus is preferably used in conjunction with medical probes , such as the drug delivery device disclosed in a u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 130 , 031 entitled “ mr - visible medical device for neurological interventions using nonlinear magnetic stercotaxis and method for mr imaging or x - ray visualization .” the mr - visible drug delivery probe is navigated by mss to the target tissue and / or advanced into the patient via endovascular , intracerebroventricular , or intraparenchymal entry ports based on the most recently acquired ( e . g ., real - time or near real - time ) mri data in the superhost computer . in one particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention , a plurality of medical probes , each with an mss - responsive magnetic tip disposed at the distal end , are sequentially guided by mss to targeted locations in the cerebral vasculature , ventricles or parenchyma . as each probe is positioned at the appropriate mri - determined target location , its mss - responsive magnetic tip is retracted or otherwise deactivated magnetically , thereby rendering the probe insensitive to the mss magnetic fields during placement of the next probe . said medical probes preferably have a linearly arranged array of radiopaque and mr - visible markers disposed at the distal end to provide easily identifiable reference points for trackability and localization under mr imaging and x - ray fluoroscopy guidance . additionally , active mr visualization of the medical probe is achieved or enhanced by means of rf microcoils disposed along the distal axis of the probe . mr visibility can be variably adjusted based on requirements related to degree of signal intensity change for probe localization and positioning , enhancement along the shaft of the probe , enhancement around the body of the probe , visibility of the proximal and distal ends of the probe , degree of increased background noise associated with probe movement , and other factors which either increase or suppress noise and artifacts associated with the probe . it should be understood , however , that the image registration method and apparatus of the present invention , although emphasized with respect to endovascular procedures , is not limited to endovascular procedures , but may also be used for intracranial , transcavitary and other procedures in all other regions of the body . a method of performing a diagnostic or therapeutic procedure comprising obtaining an electronic image of a patient on a support by magnetic resonance imaging and storing said electronic image on a computer , moving said patient through a plane with magnetic shielding within said plane between said magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and said magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance apparatus while said patient remains on said support to magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance apparatus , said moving being performed on a track which is secured between an apparatus which performs said magnetic resonance imaging and aid magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance apparatus , and operating said magnetic stereotaxis or magnetic guidance apparatus with reference to said electronic image or a visual image generated from said electronic image to guide a medical device through said patient .
a magnetic stereotaxis system is functionally integrated with a magnetic resonance imaging system to provide a non - invasive , radiation - free modality for integrated mri / mms tracking and guiding of an interventional medical device . shielding is provided between regions where the patient is moved so that magnetic fields from one procedure do not interfere with the function or materials used in the other procedure . a process is described where a patient is moved on a track from one procedural field to another procedural field with the shield available between different zones provides for the procedures . a computer is associated with the system to supervise performance of a variety of functions and procedures within the surgical environment .