This paper reports a novel system for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guided transrectal prostate interventions, such as needle biopsy, fiducial marker placement, and therapy delivery The system utilizes a hybrid tracking method, comprised of passive fiducial tracking for initial registration, subsequent incremental motion measurement along the degrees of freedom using fiber-optical encoders, mechanical scales Targeting accuracy of the system is evaluated in prostate phantom experiments Achieved targeting accuracy, procedure times were found to compare favorably with existing systems using passive, active tracking methods Moreover, the portable design of the system using only standard MRI image sequences, minimal custom scanner interfacing allows the system to be easily used on different MRI scanners