Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the gold standard imaging modality for soft tissues. It produces detail cross-sectional images of soft tissue and bone anatomy, including muscles, tendons, ligaments, brain and organs, without the use of ionizing radiation. In addition to orthopedic imaging, MRI is also used for heart, brain and breast. MRI uses gadolinium contrast in many exams to highlight tissues and blood vessels, which enhances images and offers better diagnostic quality. It can also be used in conjunction with PET scans. How does MRI work? MR creates images by using powerful magnets to polarize hydrogen atoms in water (the body is made of of more than 80% water) so they face in one direction. A radiofrequency pulse is then used to ping these atoms, causing them to wobble, or resonate. The MRI coils detect this and computers can assemble images from the signals. Basic MRI scans will focus on the resonance of fat and water in two different sequences, which highlight and contrast different features in the anatomy.

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How accurate are volumetric software programs when compared to breast MRI?

Radiologists are in need of accurate methods for assessing a patient’s percent breast density (PBD) from a 2D mammogram. Are today’s volumetric breast density software programs up to the challenge?

MRI shows 'residual echo' from Neanderthals in human brain

Researchers from the National Institute of Mental Health have used MRI to suggest the brain’s ability to use tools and locate objects can be connected to Neanderthal-derived gene variants.

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MRI can ID ‘waterlogged’ brain region, help gauge Parkinson’s damage

Scientists from the University of Florida in Gainesville have used MRI to quantify the damage of Parkinson’s disease by tracking fluid changes in one area of the brain.

CorTechs Labs and Hitachi Announce Support of Hitachi 1.2T, 1.5T and 3.0T MRI Scanners for NeuroQuant

(San Diego, CA and Twinsburg, OH) July 24, 2017 - CorTechs Labs, the leading medical software innovator providing solutions for quantitative brain volume analysis, is pleased to announce that Hitachi 1.2T Oasis, 1.5T Echelon Oval and 3.0T Trillium Oval MRI scanners are compatible with NeuroQuant®, the foremost medical device software for volumetric MRI processing. CorTechs Labs and Hitachi worked together to validate the 1.2T, 1.5T and 3.0T Hitachi MRI scanners, ensuring accurate and consistent brain segmentation results for Hitachi MRI customers.

FDA OKs MRI system for use in neonatal ICU

In a June 20 press release, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it had cleared the first MRI device designed for neonatal brain and head imaging in intensive care units.

Follow-up MRI reveals John McCain’s glioblastoma

Sen. John McCain has been diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of cancer in brain tissue, after undergoing a follow-up MRI after a CT scan for double vision. The Arizona Republican underwent the imaging procedures at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix.

Link between MRI, clinical exams missing in some MS patients

Recent research shows physical disability and brain lesion volume may not be directly linked in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The study found a significant minority showed a dissociation between MRI findings and clinical examinations.

Contrast-enhanced digital mammography: a cost-effective substitute for breast MRI?

It’s well established that screening mammography successfully reduces breast cancer incidence and mortality, but in high-risk patients with certain BRCA mutations or dense breasts, other imaging techniques are often used instead. Breast MRI is one modality specialists often turn to in these cases, though it fails to identify calcifications and can be quite expensive to use, and this is where contrast-enhanced digital mammography (CEDM) comes in.

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