Scope for improvement in MRI technology ⚙️

How much can the boundaries be pushed?

📍Purpose of this article — To Discuss👇🏻

a) Current status of MRI technology

b) Improvements required

c) What’s stopping us from achieving it?

d) How can we approach the shortcomings?

e) If we actually need these changes and

f) Some recent advances

📍Who should consider reading this — technologists, radiologists, imaging engineers, medical machine companies, hospital management, medical professionals, etc.

MRI

a) Current status of MRI technology

-> How imp is MRI in radiology

Superior to CT & X-rays due to its non-ionizing nature & ability to accurately visualize soft tissue.

Preferred for breast cancer screening in women with dense breasts, especially young women below the age of 40.

It’s the gold standard for neuroimaging of the brain & spinal cord. Also, its different variations can be used to do enhanced imaging like angiography, CVS imaging to check for congenital abnormality, tissue viability, musculoskeletal imaging, and functional insights into activity, metabolism, and viability of brain & other tissues.

-> Available types of MRI & their purpose

T1-weighted MRI — used for anatomical/structural imaging, highlighting the differences in tissue density.

T2-weighted MRI — senses variations in water content thus valuable for detecting edema, inflammation, etc.

Proton density MRI — emphasizes the concentration of protons in tissues, useful for detecting early changes in tissues. Often used in musculoskeletal imaging.

Functional MRI — measures changes in blood flow & oxygenation to identify active regions in the brain and is hence used to study brain function during tasks or at rest.

Diffusion MRI — tracks osmosis, valuable for assessing the integrity of tissue and detecting abnormalities such as stroke & tumors.

Dynamic contrast MRI — tacks the contrast uptake by tissue and is employed in oncology to assess tumor vascularity.

Perfusion-weighted MRI — measures blood flow in the brain. This helps identify the areas of stroke, etc.

Diffusion tension MRI — detects the direction & integrity of white matter. This helps in assessing brain connectivity, etc.

— — — — — — — Fundamentals of MRI — — — — — — —

MRI is based on the gyromagnetic property of atoms.

“The property arises by spinning of a nucleus creating a magnetic field around it”

Hydrogen is chosen as the basis of MRI, as it’s most abundant in human body, has one of the highest gyromagnetic ratios, thus providing a high-resolution MRI image.

b) Areas with scope for improvement

1. Image resolution
2. Field strength
3. Time consumption for each scan — Acquisition time
4. Accessibility & Affordability
5. Safety
6. Patient’s comfort

c) What’s Stopping?

• Image resolution — Low Signal to noise ratio (SNR), Contrast Sensitivity, Artifacts 🌌
• Field strength — size vs magnetic strength of magnet 🧲
• Software 💽
• Patient cooperation 😷

How the shortcomings are being approached –

1. Researchers are working on enhancing image quality by reducing noise, improving resolution, and minimizing artifacts
2. Efforts are being made to develop faster scanning techniques to reduce the time required for MRI examinations
3. Researchers are exploring ways to make MRI more affordable by reducing the cost of equipment and optimizing imaging protocols
4. Enhanced Accessibility: There is ongoing research to make MRI more accessible to a wider population, including individuals with claustrophobia or mobility issues
5. Real-time Imaging: Real-time MRI imaging is an area of active research which could enable dynamic visualization of physiological processes
6. Researchers are continuously working on improving the safety of MRI procedures, such as reducing the risk of adverse events and minimizing patient discomfort
7. The following techniques are gaining more & more attention — Image acquisition, Image correction, Image reconstruction, Real-time imaging

Will break down some of the recent advances in MRI technology the next issue, so stay connected 🫱🏻‍🫲🏼

You can read more on the topic here👇🏻

(1) What’s New in MRI Technology — 2022 Edition — Cassling. https://www.cassling.com/blog/whats-new-in-mri-technology-2022-edition.

(2) What’s New in MRI Technology | Danforth Main. https://danforthxray.com/whats-new-in-mri-technology-2022/.

(3) www.itnonline.com. https://www.itnonline.com/article/recent-advances-mri-technology.

(4) Recent advances in mri | PPT — SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/MAJIDMALIK13/recent-advances-in-mri-218845689.

(5) 8 trends in radiology technology to watch in 2023 — Radiology Business. https://radiologybusiness.com/topics/professional-associations/radiology-associations/radiological-society-north-america-rsna/8.