Image-based tracking of optically detunable parallel resonant circuits.

In this work strategies for the robust localization of parallel resonant circuits are investigated. These strategies are based on the subtraction of two images, which ideally differ in signal intensity at the positions of the devices only. To modulate their signal amplification, and thereby generate the local variations, the parallel resonant circuits are alternately detuned and retuned during the acquisition. The integration of photodiodes into the devices permits their fast optical switching. Radial and spiral imaging sequences are modified to provide the data for the two images in addition to those for a conventional image in the same acquisition time. The strategies were evaluated by phantom experiments with stationary and moving catheter-borne devices. In particular, rapid detuning and retuning during the sampling of single profiles is shown to lead to a robust localization. Moreover, this strategy eliminates most of the drawbacks usually associated with image-based tracking, such as low temporal resolution. Image-based tracking may thus become a competitive (if not superior) alternative to projection-based tracking of parallel resonant circuits. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.