A method for simultaneous RF ablation and MRI

Radiofrequency (RF) energy has many advantages in thermal tumor ablation pr otocols. With the recent development of open MRI systems, interventional MR I procedures, including thermal ablation, have become the focus of great re search interest, However, the significant interference between RF generator s and MR imagers has prevented simultaneous imaging and RF ablation and, un til now, has limited the role of RF-based thermal therapy in interventional MRI. Here, a simple switching circuit designed with consideration of patie nt safety provides compatibility between open MRI systems and RF thermal le sion generators. The experimental results show that the switching circuit a llows imaging during RF ablation and opens new opportunity for MR-guided th ermal therapy.