ANIMAL TRIALS

MaRVis MR Guidewires have been tested in a variety of animal trials for radiological and cardiological MRI-guided interventions. A list of publications can be obtained from MaRVis. Contact us!

A comprehensive MaRVis MR Guidewire focused vessel model testing and animal trial has been performed by the group of Dr. Alexander Maßmann, Prof. Arno Bücker and Prof. Günther K. Schneider (Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg/Saar, Germany):

Glass-Fiber–based MR-safe Guidewire for MR Imaging–guided Endovascular Interventions: In Vitro and Preclinical in Vivo Feasibility Study
Alexander Massmann, Arno Bücker, Günther K. Schneider
Radiology. 2017 Aug;284(2):541-551. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2017152742. Epub 2017 Mar 16.

A total of 1,296 cannulations and 27 stent deployments plus other interventional procedures have been performed.
The authors reported: “MR imaging guidewires were characterized by good to excellent visibility, with a continuous artifact of 2 mm in diameter and 4 x 8 mm ball-shaped tip marker. Stiffness, flexibility, and guidance reflected comparable times for all in vitro and in vivo procedures with both the MR imaging and standard Nitinol guidewires. Standard and micro MR imaging guidewires were most suitable for the iliac crossover maneuver. Phantom visceral artery cannulation was easier with standard and micro MR imaging guidewires. The stiff MR imaging guidewire provided the best support for cannulation of the swine aorta and vena cava. All interventional procedures were performed successfully without complications.”

The authors concluded “that the use of glass-fiber–based guidewires for evaluation of MR imaging–guided endovascular interventions is technically feasible and safe in a swine model, and potentially, in humans.”

This independent work was recognized in 2018 with the Werner Porstmann prize, which is awarded by the German Röntgen Society for the best scientific work within the last two years in the field of interventional radiology.

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Vessel model testing:
left: 0.014” micro MaRVis Guidewire with Cobra 4F catheter
right: 0.035” standard MaRVis Guidewire with Optimed sinus-SuperFlex-Visual 5F stent
Dr. Alexander Maßmann, Prof. Günther K. Schneider, Prof. Arno Bücker (Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg/Saar, Germany)

A group of interventional cardiologists (led by Prof. Constantin von zur Mühlen and Dr. Timo Heidt) and medical physicists (led by Prof. Michael Bock) of the Heart Center Freiburg University and Faculty of Medicine Freiburg, Germany, have performed the first successful animal trial wherein they repeatedly deployed a non-metallic vascular scaffold into pig coronary arteries in a fully MRI-guided intervention with the help of a MaRVis MR micro-guidewire. (Heidt et al., Real-time magnetic resonance imaging – guided coronary intervention in a porcine model; Scientific Reports, Volume 9, Article number: 8663 (2019))

The MR safe MaRVis 0.014” MR micro-guidewire has set the basis to explore percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) under MRI-guidance. So far the lack of such MR micro-guidewires prevented preclinical development as these are a key requirement for any PCI. The MaRVis MR markers in the guidewire enabled “reliable localization of the guidewire position including the guidewire´s distal end in the image.” The authors stated: “Therefore, a major drawback of using guidewires in MRI has been settled.”