Evaluation of ferromagnetism and magnetic resonance imaging artifacts of the Strecker tantalum vascular stent.

A woven tantalum vascular stent (Strecker stent) was tested for ferromagnetism at 4.7 T and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in vitro and in vivo at 1.5 T to evaluate the production of magnetic susceptibility artifacts. No ferromagnetism was detected. Spin-echo, phase reconstruction, and gradient echo images revealed a low level of susceptibility artifacts both in vitro and in vivo. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of using MRI to evaluate blood vessels noninvasively following tantalum stent placement.