Future prospects in magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is widely regarded as capable of providing a cornucopia of detailed diagnostic information. However, of that information, very little is truly unique, and can be obtained by a combination of alternate diagnostic modalities. Given this, it is anticipated that in the short term (1-5 years) CMR will find use primarily as a modality to service patients whose diagnosis is inaccessible to established technologies such as ultrasound and radionuclide imaging. Due to the evolving emphasis on finding new and more efficient approaches to disease detection and prevention, as outlined in a policy-setting speech given by the director of the National Institutes of Health, it is anticipated that the scientific and clinical trial communities will adopt CMR at a more rapid pace due to its inherent dimensional accuracy and comprehensive nature. CMR is particularly well suited to participate in the approaching explosion of nanoparticle technologies, as they are applied to diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. In the longer term (5-10 years), as paradigms of disease detection likely expand beyond evaluation of symptoms and risk factors, the comprehensive nature of information provided by CMR will drive the increase of its use as a primary, first-tier, diagnostic modality. In summary, the use of CMR will become increasingly common, and as understanding of disease processes expand, it will emerge as a diagnostic modality that provides an abundance of unique information.

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging as applied to patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension

“…Any object, inanimate or not, that impedes its progress feels the force of this impact with catastrophic results. However, current safety systems abound ranging from metal detectors, alarms, low field magnetic wands and several layers of human checks to prevent contamination of the MRI suite (67). However, as the forces exerted on most ferrous prosthetic material by the magnetic field are of such low interaction and substantially less than those exerted upon by the body, in general many, at first counterintuitive devices can be imaged.…”

The Contribution of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging to the Interrogation of Patients Considered for, Undergoing or Having Completed the Surgical Ventricular Restoration (SVR) Procedure; The Utility, Practicality and ......

“…Software and hardware developments that speed up the basic CMR procedure are being incorporated into scanners, extending the functionality of routine applications such as flow imaging and tissue-tag visualization. Exciting areas that are close to routine application include coronary artery imaging, and evaluation of myocardial perfusion and viability status [53,54]. Taken together, CMR offers those critical and highly desirous attributes that the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute workshop entitled "Form and Function: New Views on Development, Diseases, and Therapies for the Heart" convened on April 25-26, 2002, in Bethesda, Maryland called for [55].…”