Catheter steering using a Magnetic Resonance Imaging system

A catheter is successfully bent and steered by applying magnetic gradients inside a Magnetic Resonance Imaging system (MRI). One to three soft ferromagnetic spheres are attached at the distal tip of the catheter with different spacing between the spheres. Depending on the interactions between the spheres, progressive or discontinuous/jumping displacement was observed for increasing magnetic load. This phenomenon is accurately predicted by a simple theoretical dipole interaction model.