Aim: To develop a magnetic resonance (MR)-visible mesh using iron oxides and prove visibility.
Methods: In a phantom study, a suitable iron oxide, Fe3O4 (iron(II,III) oxide) and FeOOH (iron(III) oxide-hydroxide), concentration was determined using relaxometric MR measurements of the transverse relaxation rates R2 and R2*. Next, a nonabsorbable mesh was designed from the MR-visible threads woven into a polypropylene mesh. The mesh was implanted into a fresh female cadaver via the transobturator route, and MR visibility was assessed with various MR pulse sequences in a clinical 3-tesla system.
Results: Optimal contrast was achieved with Fe3O4 at 0.2 weight-% in all imaging sequences, and the optimal contrast was achieved in a 3D spoiled gradient-echo (fast low-angle shot) acquisition. In this concentration range the apparent transverse relaxation rate R2* is below 10 ms. The mesh was visible in the cadaver on T1-weighted 3D spoiled gradient-echo images and T1-weighted fast spin-echo images.
Conclusion: Mesh materials can be manufactured to be visible on MR with a negative contrast. Fe3O4 meshes could simplify follow-up examinations and help diagnose origins of postsurgical lesions after urogynecological procedures with mesh material.
Written by:
Brocker KA, Lippus F, Alt CD, Hallscheidt P, Zsolt F, Soljanik I, Lenz F, Bock M, Sohn C. Are you the author?
Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Reference: Gynecol Obstet Invest. 2014 Dec 20. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1159/000366442
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 25531860