MRI

Inhaling undiluted, hyperpolarized xenon 129 for magnetic resonance imaging of the lungs is safe for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients as well as healthy volunteers, Duke University researchers reported online on Nov. 4 in the journal Radiology.

MRI measurements of inflammatory precursors to rheumatoid arthritis are central to the early application of a promising anti-arthritis therapy, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal.

The FDA is holding a forum this month to address MRI safety concerns and find ways to cut incidents. Industry leaders agree there should be safety standards in place, but are mixed on whether federal regulation is needed. What do you think?

Diffusion-weighted MRI patterns can guide the work-up for patients presenting with acute ischemic stroke symptoms, according to a study in the November Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

MRI-related accidents and injury reporting are on the rise, prompting the FDA to examine thermal burns, projectiles, implantable devices, and hearing loss.

The Discovery MR750w with Geometry Enhancing Method (GEM) suite of coils has a patient-friendly design and 70 cm bore to accommodate the hard-to-scan patients, such as larger, claustrophobic, elderly or very young patients, the company said.

The largest-ever study on the effects of magnetic resonance imaging on pacemakers and defilibrators has concluded that the imagers are indeed safe for those with these cardiac rhythm management devices.

Plaque rupture and ulceration is common in women who suffer heart attacks, but whose angiographs show no coronary artery disease, according to a study published online in the journal Circulation.

It’s a good thing patients in MRI scanners are lying down, it turns out.

A magnetic resonance imaging technique called SWIFT (sweep imaging with Fourier transform) can help detect oral cancer in the jawbone, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, a JAMA/Archives journal.

The use of production control techniques including statistical analysis, queuing theory, and statistical process control yielded big MRI efficiency gains at a 1,200-bed German hospital, say the authors of a new study in the September issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

Blood flow abnormalities in the brains of veterans with Gulf War illness have persisted 20 years and in some cases have gotten worse, according to a new arterial spin labeled (ASL) MRI study published online in the journal Radiology.

New patient-friendly MRIs with 0.3T offer more options for scanning larger patients, children, extremities, as well as people with claustrophobia.

GRAPEVINE, TEXAS - A decade after a 6-year-old boy died in a freak MRI accident, what have medical regulators done to ensure greater MRI safety?

Fat around the heart is more strongly related to coronary artery plaque than either body mass index or waist circumference – even among those without symptoms of atherosclerosis, according to a new study in the journal Radiology.

A formidably named bit of technology can open a new window into pancreas function, according to a new study in the journal Radiology. Serial magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) with a spatially selective inversion-recovery (IR) pulse can provide insights into pancreatic flow noninvasively, Japanese researchers reported.

A 57-year-old female presents to the emergency department with dysphagia and reports her throat is “closing up.” On physical exam, there are no palpable masses appreciated along the neck, and the thyroid descends along the midline on swallowing and is noted to be slightly enlarged.

This monograph focuses on the need to monitor body temperature in patients during MRI and discusses the sites to record temperature based on efficacy and stability of the measurement, as well as the response time (i.e., the temporal resolution) during temperature fluctuations.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with 7-Tesla ultrahigh-field-strength technology captures scar tissue and other abnormalities of patients with epilepsy, according to a study published online in the journal Radiology.

Patients with mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) exhibit abnormal functional connectivity in the thalamus, a relay station for transmitting information throughout the brain, according to a new fMRI study published online in the journal Radiology. The findings could have implications for treatment strategies.

Magnetic resonance (MR) technologists have developed three de-facto specialties over time, which could herald new training programs to meet the community’s needs.

Magnetic resonance enterography should be the imaging method of choice for radiologists diagnosing children with inflammatory bowel diseases, a new study published online in the American Journal of Roentgenology argues.

Radiologists can now charge Medicare for MRIs when the patient has a pacemarker approved for MRI exams.

Participants underwent an MRI exam at the beginning of the study, and again two years later. Researchers also then tested the participants’ memory using several scales. From the memory tests, researchers identified 25 participants (17 percent) whose memory declined during the two years, and 124 participants who did not.

Open design, wide bore, noise reduction MRI machines can ease claustrophobia. Do patients prefer them; are they cost effective; do they improve image quality?

On February 8, 2011, a new cardiac pacemaker received approval from the FDA, which for the first time allows MRI procedures to be performed in patients by following specific labeling requirements. http://www.medtronic.com/mrisurescan. The “MR Conditional” Revo MRI SureScan Pacing System from Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc. was designed to minimize the potential interactions with the electromagnetic fields used during MRI examinations.

MRI could help detect Alzheimer’s disease at an early stage - before irreversible damage has been done, according to the second recent study to examine MRI use for Alzheimer’s.

Using MRI may help researchers predict which adults are likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study published online and in the June issue of Radiology.

Five years after the first reports linking gadolinium-based MRI contrast agents to nephrogenic system fibrosis (NSF), separate presentations of post-marketing data from manufacturers and an independent prospective study supported by agencies in France have validated the low-risk status of the contrast agent Dotarem (Gd-DOTA).

Stroke in young adults is one of the leading causes of disability, and the third leading cause of death, according to the American Stroke Association. Yet with an early MRI scan and the right treatment, the effects from strokes can be can be completely reversed.