Patent ID: 7239400

Claim:
A method for measuring position and orientation of an interventional device within a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, the magnetic resonance imaging apparatus providing a static magnetic field B 0 and magnetic field gradients with predetermined magnetic flux densities and directions, the method comprising: (A) attaching a Faraday sensor to the interventional device, the Faraday sensor being connected to an optical measuring device; (B) using the optical measuring device for measuring the rotation of the plane of polarization of linearly polarized light in the Faraday sensor, while exposing the interventional device: (i) to the static magnetic field B 0, and (ii) to the field gradients in all three directions of space in addition to the static magnetic field B 0 ; and (C) determining the position and the orientation of the interventional device by evaluating the measured rotation of the plane of polarization of the linearly polarized light.