Magnetic Resonance Imaging - Applications

Applications

In clinical practice, MRI is used to distinguish pathologic tissue (such as a brain tumor) from normal tissue. One advantage of an MRI scan is that it is harmless to the patient. It uses strong magnetic fields and non-ionizing electromagnetic fields in the radio frequency range, unlike CT scans and traditional X-rays, which both use ionizing radiation.

While CT provides good spatial resolution (the ability to distinguish two separate structures an arbitrarily small distance from each other), MRI provides comparable resolution with far better contrast resolution (the ability to distinguish the differences between two arbitrarily similar but not identical tissues). The basis of this ability is the complex library of pulse sequences that the modern medical MRI scanner includes, each of which is optimized to provide image contrast based on the chemical sensitivity of MRI.

For example, with particular values of the echo time (T_E) and the repetition time (T_R), which are basic parameters of image acquisition, a sequence takes on the property of T₂-weighting. On a T₂-weighted scan, water- and fluid-containing tissues are bright (most modern T₂ sequences are actually fast T₂ sequences) and fat-containing tissues are dark. The reverse is true for T₁-weighted images. Damaged tissue tends to develop edema, which makes a T₂-weighted sequence sensitive for pathology, and generally able to distinguish pathologic tissue from normal tissue. With the addition of an additional radio frequency pulse and additional manipulation of the magnetic gradients, a T₂-weighted sequence can be converted to a FLAIR sequence, in which free water is now dark, but edematous tissues remain bright. This sequence in particular is currently the most sensitive way to evaluate the brain for demyelinating diseases, such as multiple sclerosis.

The typical MRI examination consists of 5–20 sequences, each of which is chosen to provide a particular type of information about the subject tissues. This information is then synthesized by the interpreting physician.