New advances in MRI

Abstract

Since its initial use in humans in the early 1980s magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become a widely used clinical imaging modality. Nonetheless, there continue to be opportunities for further advances. One of these is improved technology. Specific projects include high field strength magnets at 3 Tesla and beyond and an increased number of receiver channels for data acquisition, permitting improved SNR and reduced acquisition time. A second area is the further study of image formation, including the manner of sampling "k-space" and the specific type of image contrast. A third area is the in-creased exploitation of high speed computation to allow every-day implementation of techniques other-wise limited to research labs. Finally, MR is growing in its usage as a non-invasive, reproducible, and quantitative test in the study of non-clinical questions. MRI continues to be an area with a wealth of opportunity for contemporary study. © Springer-Verlag 2004.