Nuclear magnetic resonance for wireless magnetic tracking.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41331257.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-66468-3 and PMC identifier 12673108.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
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.