Comparison of artifacts produced from carbon fiber and titanium alloy needles at 1.5 T MR imaging

A novel coaxial carbon fiber-based biopsy needle set was investigated in phantom experiments and compared with a commercially available, magnetic resonance (MR)-compatible titanium alloy set using MR imaging at 1.5 T. Image artifacts observed with different MR sequences were assessed. It was found that the carbon fibers produced distinctly smaller image artifacts compared with the titanium needle. Depending on the type of MR sequence, the relative range of artifact size ratios between the carbon and titanium needles was between 0.7 (spin-echo sequence) and 0.4 (gradient-echo sequence) with the needles oriented perpendicular to the main magnetic field. Carbon fiber composites are promising materials for the design and construction of MR-compatible instruments.