New MRI technique shows wrist in motion

A new MRI technique developed by a group at UC Davis in Sacramento allows patients to have video of their wrists in motion for diagnostic purposes.
“Patients can reproduce the motion that is bothering them while they are inside the scanner and physicians can assess how the wrist is actually working. Some patients only have pain or other symptoms with movement,” Robert Boutin, MD said.
The technique, called Active MRI, uses a series of brief MRI scans to capture the wrist without the use of radiation associated with dynamic computed tomography and fluoroscopy.
Dielectric pad were used to overcome the issue of banding artifacts that could obscure the moving wrist. Researchers also developed a new MRI protocol that takes one image every 0.5 seconds which enables the image set to be viewed in video form.
“It is phenomenal that we can look inside the body while it is in action using MRI,” Boutin said. “Routine MRI provides exquisite details, but only if the body is completely motionless in one particular position. But bodies are made to move. We think Active MRI will be a valuable tool in augmenting traditional, static MRI tests.”
Boutin and his colleagues tested Active MRI on 15 wrists of 10 patients with no symptoms of wrist problems. The team’s next step is to test use Active MRI on patients with symptoms of wrist instability.

Reference:

Boutin R. PLoS One. 2013;doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084004

Disclosure: The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health (Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health Program and National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering), UC Davis Imaging Research Center and UC Davis Department of Radiology.