New MRI technology creates better images
LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Magnetic resonance imaging -- or MRI -- uses a magnetic field to produce images of the inside of the body. Doctors use it to diagnose cancer, internal injuries or heart disease.
If you’ve ever needed an MRI, you know how confining it can feel. A new FDA-approved, full-body MRI is being used for the first time in the U.S. The Magnetom Free.Max has the largest opening of any MRI, expanding access for patients with severe claustrophobia or obesity.
“Not only can those patients not fit in a conventional MRI, but other imaging modalities like echo of cardiography, CT, nuclear imaging are not as effective in these severely obese patients,” said Dr. Orlando P. Simonetti.
Researchers and engineers at Ohio State University are developing cardiac imaging techniques using the machine created by medical company Siemens. It uses a lower magnetic field, a much better option for some cardiac patients.
“A lot of patients that come in for cardiac MRI have implanted devices, pacemakers, defibrillators,” Simonetti said.
The metal in implanted devices -- like pacemakers and defibrillators -- may distort the higher magnetic field of other MRI scanners, so technicians are sometimes not able to get clear images. The researchers said they’ve used new technology to boost the signal strength of the lower magnetic field, providing better pictures of the heart.
More: Health stories
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