New wiring technology ‘could aid creation of MRI-compatible medical devices’

US researchers are developing a new type of wiring technology for use in the development of medical devices that are compatible with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

For this project, the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging team at Massachusetts General Hospital have redesigned the wire at the core of the leads that carry signals between implanted medical devices and their target structures.

In doing so, they have significantly reduced the generation of heat that occurs when standard wires are exposed to the radiofrequency energy used in MRI, which often makes it unsafe for these patients to undergo such scans.

Many modern medical devices have been designed to prevent the magnetic interference that previously rendered them incompatible for use with MRI, but the issue of overheating wires remained unaddressed until now.

It is expected that this technology will be applicable to any type of active implant, including pacemakers, defibrillators and spinal cord stimulators.

Senior study author Dr Giorgio Bonmassar of the Martinos Center said: "By pursuing these opportunities we hope that one day no patients will be denied access to state-of-the-art MRI examinations."