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A contrast agent usually shortens, but in some instances increases, the value of T1 of nearby water protons thereby altering the contrast in the image. Most clinically used MRI contrast agents work by shortening the T1 relaxation time of protons inside tissues via interactions with the nearby contrast agent.
MRI can be made sensitive to the motion of molecules. Regular MRI acquisition utilizes the behavior of protons in water to generate contrast between clinically relevant features of a particular subject. The versatile nature of MRI is due to this capability of producing contrast related to the structure of tissues at the microscopic level.
A contrast agent (or contrast medium) is a substance used to increase the contrast of structures or fluids within the body in medical imaging. [1] Contrast agents absorb or alter external electromagnetism or ultrasound , which is different from radiopharmaceuticals , which emit radiation themselves.
MRI is widely used in hospitals and clinics for medical diagnosis, staging and follow-up of disease. Compared to CT, MRI provides better contrast in images of soft tissues, e.g. in the brain or abdomen. However, it may be perceived as less comfortable by patients, due to the usually longer and louder measurements with the subject in a long ...
Phase contrast MRI is one of the main techniques for magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). This is used to generate images of arteries (and less commonly veins) in order to evaluate them for stenosis (abnormal narrowing), occlusions, aneurysms (vessel wall dilatations, at risk of rupture) or other abnormalities. MRA is often used to evaluate ...
SWI Image acquired at 4 Tesla showing the veins in the brain. Susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI), originally called BOLD venographic imaging, is an MRI sequence that is exquisitely sensitive to venous blood, hemorrhage and iron storage.
The contrast agents used for DCE-MRI are often gadolinium based. Interaction with the gadolinium (Gd) contrast agent (commonly a gadolinium ion chelate) causes the relaxation time of water protons to decrease, and therefore images acquired after gadolinium injection display higher signal in T1-weighted images indicating the present of the agent.
However, greater capital costs and effects of off-resonance artefact on image quality mean that many studies are routinely performed at 1.5T. [29] Imaging at 7T field strength is a growing area of research, but is not widely available. [30] Current manufacturers of cardiac-capable MRI scanners include Philips, Siemens, Hitachi, Toshiba, GE.