Nuclear magnetic resonance for wireless magnetic tracking

Abstract

Wireless trackers have emerged as a crucial technology in minimally invasive medical procedures with their remote localization capabilities. Existing trackers suffer from miniaturization issues and complex designs, which limit their integration into medical devices. We present nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) magnetic sensing, a quantum sensing approach with nT sensitivity for wireless magnetic tracking. NMR magnetic sensing enables millimeter-scale tracking accuracy and versatile miniaturized tracker designs for minimally invasive medical devices in magnetic resonance imaging scanners. As examples, we demonstrate miniature magnetic trackers with submillimeter-scale diameters for guidewires and optic fibers, flexible magnetic trackers for soft devices, and ferrofluidic trackers for shape-morphing devices. With the demonstrated miniaturization and wide range of tracker design possibilities, wireless magnetic tracking with NMR is promising for future minimally invasive medical operations.