MRI

Despite its widespread use as a tool that provides rapid diagnosis at a relatively low cost without the need for bulky equipment or ionizing radiation, ultrasound faces mounting competition from modalities such as CT and MRI, which combine short acquisition times with the ability to rapidly generate multiplanar and 3D images. That may change with volume ultrasound, a technique that lets clinicians and sonographers scan the patient and rapidly analyze data from a volume of interest.

Conventional static MR angiography techniques create high-spatial-resolution structural studies but fail to image physiological information inherent in the delivery of blood or contrast. MR scanner gradient enhancements now enable repetitive data capture over time in the attempt to depict vascular dynamics and physiology in a method similar to that routinely used with conventional catheter x-ray angiography.

For the first time, researchers have combined functional and anatomic MR imaging to reveal abnormalities in both physiological states in a well-defined subgroup of schizophrenic patients with chronic auditory hallucinations. With the potential to visually pinpoint abnormalities, MRI could prove useful as a diagnostic and follow-up tool to evaluate treatment for people with the disorder, according to lead investigator Dr. Luis Marti-Bonmati, chief of MR at Dr. Peset University Hospital in Valencia, Spain.

Breast MR is approaching celebrity status. A raft of expert opinions, notably from the American Cancer Society, has established MR in public and professional minds as a leading means to diagnose cancer among patients at high risk and possibly even among patients in the general population.

Three-D reconstructions are routinely used in the imaging of many organ systems. Not only do referring physicians and patients like the volume-rendered images, but radiologists are finding the inclusion of coronal and sagittal reformats imperative to making the most confident diagnoses. The use of advanced imaging over the last year has become important in several organs, mainly the heart/chest (Figure 1) and the abdomen/pelvis.

Mountaineering and climbing have been popular sports for many decades. The recent advent of artificial climbing walls and improved safety equipment have transformed the sport and brought it to a wider audience than ever. Such innovations allow individuals to climb safely in any weather conditions.

A spate of European studies within the last year contributes to the evidence that MRI may soon replace scintigraphy and x-ray to detect bony metastases and soft-tissue involvement.

Of the 6000 scientific abstracts submitted to the RSNA this year, four major areas dominate, according to Dr. Gerald Dodd III, chair of the RSNA's scientific program committee.

The Deficit Reduction Act that went into effect in January pulled the rug out this year from under the vendors of CT equipment and flattened the rebound that makers of MR scanners had hoped for in 2007. That could be good news for anyone looking to buy a new CT or MR scanner in the coming months.

Researchers in Belgium have found that MR elastography is more accurate than a blood test commonly used in the noninvasive staging of liver fibrosis. The study adds weight to clinical literature that suggests MR elastography could replace biopsy.

MRI is the study of choice in the overall evaluation of the temporomandibular joint.1 The modality is reported to be 95% accurate in assessing the position and configuration of the TMJ disc and 93% accurate in assessing osseous changes.2 MRI provides detailed multiplanar evaluation of the soft tissues and osseous structures that form the TMJ, and assessment in various degrees of opening provides an opportunity to evaluate the joint for internal derangement, the most common abnormality that affects it.

The European Commission announced today that it will postpone and amend legislation that would pose a serious threat to the use of MRI in patient care and scientific research.

The application of a scleral buckle (note, this is a procedure, not an implant), or “scleral buckling,” is a surgical technique used to repair retinal detachments. It was first used experimentally by ophthalmic surgeons in 1937. By the early 1960s, scleral buckling had become the method of choice when the development of new materials, particularly silicone, offered surgeons new opportunities for improving their outcomes.

In a kind of YouTube meets “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” Siemens Medical Solutions is planning a contest to give an MR scanner to a needy community hospital.

Researchers using coronary CT angiography have replicated ex vivo and intravascular ultrasound studies that have characterized plaque into its various components and shown a predisposition for plaque to form in low shear stress areas.

Peer-reviewed research published in October offered an eye-opener for anyone who thinks that cardiac imaging is all about measuring coronary artery occlusions. Variety spiced the most notable imaging research of the month. Studies produced fresh insight into the relevance of renal artery calcium, delayed enhancement and the prediction of post-myocardial infarction left ventricular remodeling, initial imaging assessments of acute stroke, coronary flow reserve and diabetes, aortic dissection, and Turner syndrome, as well as, of course, coronary artery imaging.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, a new study suggests the small number of NSF cases known today may be just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, the disease appears to be prevalent -- of “epidemic” proportions -- in hemodialysis patients, according to rheumatologists at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging has helped University of Washington researchers discover that too much connectivity between the language-processing regions of the brains of dyslexic children may contribute to reading disabilities. Follow-up scans produced functional evidence that these abnormal connectivity patterns were mitigated after only three weeks of specialized reading training.

MRI practice restrictions introduced this year in Slovakia may spread in April 2008 to all 27 countries in the European Commission, if the EC governing body does not delay a controversial regulation aimed at protecting workers from harmful exposure to electromagnetic fields.

The assessment of myocardial perfusion reserve at 3T MRI is clinically feasible and is desirable because of its superior signal-to-noise ratio, spatial resolution, and temporal resolution, according to a preliminary study presented at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Cardiac Imaging. Researchers used a nonuniformity correction method to reduce artifacts that degraded the quality of previous first-pass perfusion protocols for 3T cardiac MR.

Optimized high-field MR angiography sequences that eliminate the need for contrast agents could replace conventional contrast-enhanced MRA for evaluation of major arteries and veins of the thoracic region, according to two studies presented Oct. 6 at the 2007 North American Society for Cardiac Imaging meeting in Washington, DC.

Earlier this month I was struck by a news story about the suicide rate among 10- to 24-year-olds. It had fallen in the U.S. by 28% between 1990 and 2003. Then, it suddenly rose 8% in 2004.

Using clinical skin tests rather than biopsies for diagnosis, Massachusetts General Hospital researchers have found that nephrogenic systemic fibrosis struck 13% of all hemodialysis patients and 30% of hemodialysis patients who underwent gadolinium-enhanced MRI.

Technological advances in MR imaging and expanded clinical applications have drawn radiologists' attention to 3D MRI volumetric techniques and are dazzling them with the possibilities.

A study of more than 4800 hospital patients has established that claustrophobia remains an impediment for MRI practice and a difficult experience for about 2% of patients undergoing MR procedures.

A non-contrast-based MR imaging technique for visualizing brain vasculature is due to appear soon as part of an integrated package from Siemens Medical Solutions for the assessment of ischemic stroke. The new product will correlate structural and functional data with diffusion and perfusion data.

High-resolution imaging has enabled radiologists to pinpoint pathology with uncanny accuracy. The flip side of this technological boon, however, is the increasing number of incidental findings and a general lack of consensus about how to report them. Without some broad agreement, radiologists run the risk of overcalling benign lesions or undercalling malignant ones.

A diffuse central amorphous hyperintensity of the cervical cord extended from the superior endplate of the T6 vertebra to the superior endplate of the T1 vertebra with diffuse cord enlargement.

Brigham and Women's Hospital researchers in Boston have shown that MR-guided focused ultrasound surgery reduces the painful symptoms of uterine leiomyomas for at least a year after treatment. Better technique and growing experience with the minimally invasive procedure have improved its effectiveness and safety while helping physicians with patient selection.

MRI began to be used as a clinical tool during the 1980s. At that stage, it was extremely expensive and very slow, with individual procedures taking around an hour. It was also noisy and very conducive to claustrophobia. Because examinations took so long, the images were prone to motion artifacts.