Magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging provides the best soft tissue contrast available in radiology and is an essential part of many diagnostic workups. This chapter will explain the following:•Basic principles (magnetic moment of protons, precession, Larmor equation)•Excitation and relaxation (RF pulses, spin-lattice and spin-spin relaxation)•Spatial localisation using magnetic field gradients (frequency and phase encoding, slice selection)•Image reconstruction using k-space•Artefacts (effects of movement, flow, metal, encoding artefacts)•Magnetic resonance (MR) angiography and diffusion-weighted imaging.