Molecular Magnetic Resonance Imaging
MMRI- Identify diseases earlier
Magnetic resonance medical imaging, built on the principles of nuclear magnetic resonance, produces an image of the NMR signal in a thin slice right through the human body. Images taken consecutively create a 3D image of anatomical structures. Magnetic resonance medical imaging is the diagnostic tool of choice for viewing the brain and spinal cord as well as evaluating soft tissue.
Molecular magnetic resonance medical imaging brings the level of visualization and analysis to the cellular and molecular level. At this level, it is doable to track and assess cellular functions that can provide never-before-available medical imaging insight into the disease process. For example, scientists have long known about the connection between inflammation and heart disease. Nevertheless, the medical imaging tools to measure inflammation related to the heart haven't been accessible at a fine enough level of measurement to entirely explore the connection.
On January sixteenth 2007 the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences printed a study that uses molecular MRI medical imaging to receive insight into the correlation connecting inflammation and heart disease. Researchers built a synthetic material, gadolinium�diethyltriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), that's able to discover and attach to white blood cells imbedded in arterial walls. The DPTA allowed mMRI medical imaging visualization of the WBC's, providing the ability to actually number the cells and calculate their stability. Researchers came across a relationship between the amount of white cells stuck in the arterial walls and the probability of subsequent heart attack. The original research was conducted on mice. Further research will soon be conducted on larger animals and if successful, human clinical trails will follow. The search for better, more effective and more exact medical imaging �tagging� media is the most popular new area of research in molecular magnetic resonance medical imaging. Lately, researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have given their report on research relating to a modern medical imaging method for molecular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that can perceive molecules 10,000x lower concentrations than conventional MRI techniques. The method, called HYPER-CEST, for hyperpolarized xenon chemical exchange saturation transfer, hyperpolarizes atoms with laser light to enhance their MRI signal, then puts the atoms into a nanoscale cage biosensor which is made specifically for a particular protein target. This medical imaging method will most likely be extremely useful in detecting cancer cells at the very earliest stages of cancer presence.
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About the Author
Jesse Fisher likes writing articles for his customers including Transamerican Medical, a company that resells Philips Medical equipment and parts. See also Imaging Centers online directory.
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