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Welcome to the website of the
Southwest Virginia MS Support Group
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Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
An MRI
(magnetic resonance imaging) of the brain creates a detailed
image of the complex structures in the brain. An MRI can give a
three-dimensional depiction of the brain, making location of
problems such as tumors or aneurysms more precise.
 Update Date:
07/13/2006 12:00:00 AM
Joseph V. Campellone, M.D., Division of Neurology, Cooper
Hospital/University Medical Center, Camden, NJ.
Review provided
by VeriMed Healthcare Network.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a test that uses a
magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to make pictures
of organs and structures inside the body.
In many cases, MRI gives different information about
structures in the body than can be seen with an X-ray,
ultrasound, or
computed tomography (CT) scan. MRI also may show
problems that cannot be seen with other imaging methods.
For an MRI test, the area of the body being studied is
placed inside a special machine that has a strong magnet. In
some cases, a dye (contrast material) may be used during the MRI
to show pictures of organs or structures more clearly.
Photographs or films of certain views can also be made.
Information from an MRI can be saved and stored on a computer
for more study.
MRI can be used to look for problems such as bleeding,
tumors, infection, blockage, or injury in the brain, organs and
glands, blood vessels, and joints.
Date updated: May 25, 2007
Jeannette Curtis; Caroline Rea, RN, BS, MS
SOURCE:
Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
Magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) is a
medical imaging technique primarily used in
Radiology to visualize the structure and function of the body. It
provides detailed images of the body in any plane. MRI provides much
greater
contrast between the different soft tissues of the body than does
computed tomography (CT), making it especially useful in
neurological (brain),
musculoskeletal,
cardiovascular, and
oncological (cancer) imaging. Unlike CT it uses no
ionizing radiation, but uses a powerful
magnetic field to align the
nuclear magnetization of (usually)
hydrogen
atoms in
water in the body.
Radiofrequency fields are used to systematically alter the alignment
of this magnetization, causing the hydrogen nuclei to produce a rotating
magnetic field detectable by the scanner. This signal can be manipulated
by additional magnetic fields to build up enough information to
reconstruct an image of the body.
Magnetic resonance imaging was
developed from knowledge gained in the study of
nuclear magnetic resonance. In its early years the technique was
referred to as nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI). However, as the
word nuclear was associated in the public mind with
ionizing radiation exposure it is generally now referred to simply as
MRI. Scientists still use the term NMRI when discussing non-medical
devices operating on the same principles. One of the contributors to
modern MRI,
Paul Lauterbur, originally named the technique zeugmatography,
a Greek term meaning "that which is used for joining".[1]
The term referred to the interaction between the static and the gradient
magnetic fields necessary to create an image, but this term was not
adopted.
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