Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the gold standard imaging modality for soft tissues. It produces detail cross-sectional images of soft tissue and bone anatomy, including muscles, tendons, ligaments, brain and organs, without the use of ionizing radiation. In addition to orthopedic imaging, MRI is also used for heart, brain and breast. MRI uses gadolinium contrast in many exams to highlight tissues and blood vessels, which enhances images and offers better diagnostic quality. It can also be used in conjunction with PET scans. How does MRI work? MR creates images by using powerful magnets to polarize hydrogen atoms in water (the body is made of of more than 80% water) so they face in one direction. A radiofrequency pulse is then used to ping these atoms, causing them to wobble, or resonate. The MRI coils detect this and computers can assemble images from the signals. Basic MRI scans will focus on the resonance of fat and water in two different sequences, which highlight and contrast different features in the anatomy.

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MRI Accreditation Checklist: Prepare for Success

United Healthcare’s decision to require MRI accreditation after March 1, 2008, initiated a trend among payers that is likely to gain steam. It has also sent hospitals and freestanding imaging centers scrambling to secure MRI accreditation from the American College of Radiology, which has accredited over to 5,000 MRI units since beginning its MRI

Maximize MR Throughput with Efficient Scheduling

As little as one extra MRI per day can generate more than an additional $200,000 in incremental revenue annually. But most imaging centers use crude scheduling systems that do not accurately present a center’s potential throughput. David A. Dierolf, director of performance improvement, Outpatient Imaging Affiliates (OIA), Nashville, Tenn, outlined

Breast MRI: An Imaging Center Opportunity to Raise Bar of Care

New guidelines from the American Cancer Society [1] recommending annual breast MRI for high-risk women are expected to result in significantly expanded demand for the study. Robert Smith, director for screening at the American Cancer Society, estimated that the new guidelines would add between 1 million and 2 million women a year to the number who

Q & A with Daniel D. Maki, MD: A Very Good Month for Breast MRI

March initiated what could be a sea change in the diagnosis of breast cancer in high-risk women, with results of a breast MR study published in the New England Journal of Medicine and, in the same week, new guidelines issued from the American Cancer Society (ACS) that recommended breast MR as a screening tool for high-risk women.

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