Real-time Magnetic Resonance Gradient-based Propulsion of a Wireless Microdevice Using Pre-Acquired Roadmap and Dedicated Software Architecture

A new method for the propulsion of a spherical ferromagnetic device along a given path in a water filled phantom with no human interaction is presented using an 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) clinical system. A special real time loop is implemented and presented that feeds the scanner with the appropriate gradients amplitudes and directions based on a pre-determined path. This paper studies the necessary propulsion conditions and limitations such as device dimensions and necessary gradient amplitude as well as overall latency problems such as communication delays and computation delays needed to achieve precise propulsion. It also presents a dedicated software environment for path control and validation, propulsion and tracking of such device