Magnetic resonance imaging: Difference between revisions

From Citizendium
Jump to navigation Jump to search
imported>Daniel Mietchen
imported>Daniel Mietchen
m (formatting)
Line 17: Line 17:
In contrast to [[x-ray computed tomography]] which is based on the density of electrons in tissues, MRI is based on several properties of protons.<ref name="PMID6506686">Hendee WR, Morgan CJ. [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=6506686 Magnetic resonance imaging. Part I--physical principles]. West J Med. 1984 Oct;141(4):491-500. PMID 6506686</ref><ref name="PMID6516335">Hendee WR, Morgan CJ. [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=6516335 Magnetic resonance imaging. Part II--Clinical applications]. West J Med. 1984 Nov;141(5):638-48. PMID 6516335</ref><ref name="PMID8433731">Edelman RR, Warach S. [http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/328/10/708 Magnetic resonance imaging - First of Two Parts]. N Engl J Med. 1993 Mar 11;328(10):708-16. PMID 8433731</ref><ref name"PMID8369029">Edelman RR, Warach S. [http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/328/11/785 Magnetic resonance imaging - Second of Two Parts]. N Engl J Med. 1993 Mar 18;328(11):785-91. PMID 8369029</ref><ref name="PMID11777806">Berger A. [http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/324/7328/35 Magnetic resonance imaging]. BMJ. 2002 Jan 5;324(7328):35. PMID 11777806</ref>Atoms with an odd number of protons, such as [[hydrogen]], inherently create a small magnetic field that can be measured, then manipulated by MRI, then measured again as the tissue relaxes after the external field is turned off.<ref name="PMID6506686"/>
In contrast to [[x-ray computed tomography]] which is based on the density of electrons in tissues, MRI is based on several properties of protons.<ref name="PMID6506686">Hendee WR, Morgan CJ. [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=6506686 Magnetic resonance imaging. Part I--physical principles]. West J Med. 1984 Oct;141(4):491-500. PMID 6506686</ref><ref name="PMID6516335">Hendee WR, Morgan CJ. [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=6516335 Magnetic resonance imaging. Part II--Clinical applications]. West J Med. 1984 Nov;141(5):638-48. PMID 6516335</ref><ref name="PMID8433731">Edelman RR, Warach S. [http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/328/10/708 Magnetic resonance imaging - First of Two Parts]. N Engl J Med. 1993 Mar 11;328(10):708-16. PMID 8433731</ref><ref name"PMID8369029">Edelman RR, Warach S. [http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/328/11/785 Magnetic resonance imaging - Second of Two Parts]. N Engl J Med. 1993 Mar 18;328(11):785-91. PMID 8369029</ref><ref name="PMID11777806">Berger A. [http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/324/7328/35 Magnetic resonance imaging]. BMJ. 2002 Jan 5;324(7328):35. PMID 11777806</ref>Atoms with an odd number of protons, such as [[hydrogen]], inherently create a small magnetic field that can be measured, then manipulated by MRI, then measured again as the tissue relaxes after the external field is turned off.<ref name="PMID6506686"/>


{| class="wikitable" align="left"
{| class="wikitable"  
|+ MRI pulse sequences
|+ MRI pulse sequences
! Pulse sequence !! Description !!Application
! Pulse sequence !! Description !!Application

Revision as of 07:47, 30 October 2009

This article is a stub and thus not approved.
Main Article
Discussion
Related Articles  [?]
Bibliography  [?]
External Links  [?]
Citable Version  [?]
 
This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.

Magnetic resonance imaging (also known as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance imaging or as an MRI scan) is a non-destructive imaging technique with a wide range of applications in the materials sciences and life sciences, including diagnostic imaging and neuroimaging. It employs the principle of nuclear magnetic resonance and is thus, in essence, a variant of NMR spectroscopy in which the exchange of information with the sample of interest is achieved by radiofrequency pulses at isotope-specific energy levels. The main difference between MR spectroscopy and MR imaging (the N is often dropped to avoid confusion with nuclear energy) is that the static magnetic field used in the former is supplemented in the latter by space-encoding magnetic field gradients which allow to combine the chemical information (or parts thereof) with spatial information to generate isotope-specific images.

Classification

Physical principles

In contrast to x-ray computed tomography which is based on the density of electrons in tissues, MRI is based on several properties of protons.[5][6][7][8][9]Atoms with an odd number of protons, such as hydrogen, inherently create a small magnetic field that can be measured, then manipulated by MRI, then measured again as the tissue relaxes after the external field is turned off.[5]

MRI pulse sequences
Pulse sequence Description Application
Standard pulse sequences
Spin echo Proton density (water) thoracic imaging
T1 relaxation time Spin-lattice (longitudinal) relaxation time. Short repetition time (TR) & echo time (TE) More solid and less mobile molecules (including lipids, cerebral white matter, yellow bone marrow) are bright.
T1 images can be obtained faster.
T1 images better display gadolinium contrast medium[7]
T2 relaxation time Spin-spin (transverse) relaxation time. Long TR & TE Water (including CSF, urine, cysts, abscesses) is bright[7]
Other pulse sequences
DWI (diffusion-weighted imaging)   Brain ischemia
Tumor response to treatment
ADC (apparent diffusion coefficient)    
GRE (gradient echo) pulse sequences   Blood flow is bright
PWI (perfusion-weighted imaging)    


Interpretation

The accuracy of interpretation depends on the quality of both the MRI machine used and the quality of the radiologist.[10]

References

  1. Le Bihan D, Jezzard P, Haxby J, Sadato N, Rueckert L, Mattay V. Functional magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. Ann Intern Med. 1995 Feb 15;122(4):296-303. PMID 7825767
  2. Gilman S. Imaging the brain. First of two parts. N Engl J Med. 1998 Mar 19;338(12):812-20. PMID 9504943
  3. Gilman S. Imaging the brain. Second of two parts. N Engl J Med. 1998 Mar 26;338(13):889-96. PMID 9516225
  4. Fisher M, Prichard JW, Warach S. New magnetic resonance techniques for acute ischemic stroke. JAMA. 1995 Sep 20;274(11):908-11. PMID 7674506
  5. 5.0 5.1 Hendee WR, Morgan CJ. Magnetic resonance imaging. Part I--physical principles. West J Med. 1984 Oct;141(4):491-500. PMID 6506686
  6. Hendee WR, Morgan CJ. Magnetic resonance imaging. Part II--Clinical applications. West J Med. 1984 Nov;141(5):638-48. PMID 6516335
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Edelman RR, Warach S. Magnetic resonance imaging - First of Two Parts. N Engl J Med. 1993 Mar 11;328(10):708-16. PMID 8433731
  8. Edelman RR, Warach S. Magnetic resonance imaging - Second of Two Parts. N Engl J Med. 1993 Mar 18;328(11):785-91. PMID 8369029
  9. Berger A. Magnetic resonance imaging. BMJ. 2002 Jan 5;324(7328):35. PMID 11777806
  10. The Scan That Didn’t Scan - NYTimes.com.