MRI

Myelination, the development of a protective sheath for nerve fibers, may dramatically increase when adults enter their forties before beginning to decline in old age, according to a study presented Sunday at the RSNA meeting. The finding contradicts long-held beliefs that myelination is a normal process of brain maturation that is largely complete by early adulthood.

High-field 3D MR angiography can put up a good fight against conventional x-ray digital subtraction angiography for the diagnosis of brain aneurysms and other intracranial vascular malformations, according to studies presented at the RSNA meeting Monday. Three-D MRA also provides reliable follow-up after treatment.

Myelination, the development of a protective sheath for nerve fibers, may dramatically increase when adults enter their forties before beginning to decline in old age, according to a study presented Sunday. The finding contradicts long-held beliefs that myelination is a normal process of brain maturation that is largely complete by early adulthood.

GE Healthcare played to high-field enthusiasts visiting the RSNA exhibit floor Sunday, unveiling three MR scanners – one at 3T and two at 1.5T.

There was a time when all that really mattered in medical imaging was technology that dealt with, well, medicine. That’s changed. Though clinical molecular imaging using advanced biomarkers is still a ways away, we’ve opened the door a crack to use miniature PET scanners in animal research with these agents. Now one of life’s inevitabilities is wedging the door open a bit more.

A new study offers a comprehensive overview of imaging techniques to evaluate blood-brain barrier permeability, research that is key to understanding the most effective way to treat brain tumors.

Whole-body MRI with a nonenhanced imaging sequence can provide accurate staging of lymphoma. Contrast agents and other improvements could take this accuracy even further, making MRI an alternative to CT and PET, according to researchers at Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Dublin.

A novel approach registers images from different scan directions to correct motion artifacts in cardiac MRI.

Molecular imaging tracers, agents, and probes have been cast in a new tactical assemblage designed to improve investigational drug evaluations.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the death of diagnostic MR spectroscopy are greatly exaggerated. CPT 76390 is considered standard of care as an effective imaging technique for the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of patients with brain lesions by Cigna Healthcare, a respected healthcare provider,1 though declared "investigational" by Blue Shield, Anthem, and Medicare. Radiologists and other physicians are confused and annoyed by some insurers' refusal to reimburse for their MRS services.

Discoveries relating to the imaging of hypoxia, angiogenesis, and ligand receptors demonstrate the scientific prowess of the In vivo Cellular Molecular Imaging Center at Johns Hopkins University and justify its reputation as one of the top molecular imaging laboratories in the world.

Exquisite images of the brain, spine, body, and joints will adorn vendors' booths at the RSNA meeting, attesting to the benefits of clinical 3T. But, unlike the many ultrahigh-field MR scans that vendors have displayed in the past, most of these 3T images will come from systems designed for everyday clinical practice.

Computer-aided detection is evolving from an interesting technological trapping to a standard of care. Part of that process involves the ongoing iterative advancement expected to be on display at the RSNA meeting.

Researchers from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have performed real-time functional cardiac MRI in fetuses. Theirs is the first report of this technique, which may represent an advance over the current gold standard of fetal echocardiography.

A novel approach registers images from different scan directions to correct motion artifacts in cardiac MRI.

Despite the image of young snowboarders recklessly bombing downhill, the popular sport actually has no greater percentage of injuries than does skiing. Snowboarders have their own types of injuries, however, related to factors unique to the sport.

Working with colleagues at the former CTI PET Systems in Knoxville, Siemens Medical Solutions engineers in Erlangen, Germany, are assembling a prototype PET/MR scanner designed to overcome technical barriers that have thus far kept a hybrid of these two modalities from clinical use.

Could patients with possible biliary and/or pancreatic disease soon be offered a piña colada before imaging? Not quite, but a team of Belgian radiologists has started serving pineapple juice labeled with gadolinium to boost the quality of its MR cholangiopancreatography scans.

In recent years, the use of MR perfusion- and diffusion-based imaging to predict tissue outcome following acute ischemic stroke has increased significantly. While most strategies to improve outcome have focused on MRI parameters, researchers from Boston and Finland have devised a novel approach that also includes spatial information.

A drainage implant or device, also known as a tube shunt, is implanted in the sclera of patients with glaucoma to maintain an artificial drainage pathway and control intraocular pressure. Intraocular pressure is lowered when aqueous humor flows from inside the eye through the tube into the space between the plate that rests on the scleral surface and surrounding fibrous capsule.(1-3)

TV cops are unlikely to visit their local MR center when extracting confessions from suspected criminals. But the appearance of 3T scanners on detective programs could simply be a matter of time, following research demonstrating the accuracy of fMRI-based lie detection.

The Gulf Coast is under attack, not from Mother Nature but from a nefarious group of evil-doers. Somehow these sneaky scoundrels have gotten their hands on an electromagnetic generator that makes hurricanes, and they are using it to pelt the U.S. with one storm after the other. That’s the theory, at least, of Scott Stevens, an Idaho TV weather forecaster.

New evidence presented this week at the 2005 Society for Molecular Imaging confirms that perfusion index measures obtained with dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI predict whether rectal cancer patients will benefit from chemoradiation.

Vascular disease in the brain may dictate the onset of dementia in the elderly, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.

Philips and Siemens are delivering on promises made two years ago to develop ultrahigh-field MR systems. The companies are completing construction of several 7T clinical installations, each bearing the clinical front end of a mainstream MR scanner rather than the unwieldy controls that have marked previous installations. The ramifications for the MR community are enormous.

Usually, the beginnings of great change are recognized only in hindsight. The exception to that rule may have happened Aug. 24. This was the day the developers of Cell Broadband Engine Architecture -- known informally as Cell -- flung wide the doors to the technical underpinnings of this new computing chip.

MR angiography can successfully monitor children who have had arterial switch surgery for transposition of the great arteries. Researchers in Belgium suggest the technique could spare children x-ray exposure from repeated exams and the potential toxicity of iodinated contrast agents.

Volumetric MR images show that neonatal therapies designed to help premature babies survive and thrive could help offset brain injuries associated with premature birth.

As more medical practitioners accept RFA and other tumor ablation methods for cancer treatment, physicians must determine how to integrate the procedure into their practices. The leap from academia to a clinical setting may be perilous, as tumor ablation doesn’t fit neatly into any one specialty. Does RFA belong in the interventional radiology box, the surgery box, or the oncology box?

Several cardiology societies have collaborated to update standards for training and utilization of cardiovascular CT and MR imaging, addressing increasingly burdensome credentialing requirements. The document applies only to cardiac applications and does not address extracardiac findings associated with cardiac imaging.