Echo-planar imaging: Magnetic resonance imaging in a fraction of a second

Journal Article · Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 EDT 1991 · Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1925560· OSTI ID:5602039

Stehling, M K ^[1]; Turner, R ^[2]; Mansfield, P ^[3]

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1. Friedrich Alexander Univ., Erlangen (West Germany) Siemens AG, Erlangen (West Germany)
2. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (United States)
3. Univ. of Nottingham (England)

Progress has recently been made in implementing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques that can be used to obtain images in a fraction of a second rather than in minutes. Echo-planar imaging (EPI) uses only one nuclear spin excitation per image and lends itself to a variety of critical medical and scientific applications. Among these are evaluation of cardiac function in real time, mapping of water diffusion and temperature in tissue, mapping of organ blood pool and perfusion, functional imaging of the central nervous system, depiction of blood and cerebrospinal fluid flow dynamics, and movie imaging of the mobile fetus in utero. Through shortened patient examination times, higher patient throughput, and lower cost per MRI examination, EPI may become a powerful tool for early diagnosis of some common and potentially treatable diseases such as ischemic heart disease, stroke, and cancer.

• OSTI ID: 5602039
• Journal Information: Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States), Journal Name: Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States) Vol. 254:5028; ISSN SCIEA; ISSN 0036-8075
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550600* -- Medicine
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
ACCURACY
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BLOOD
BODY
BODY FLUIDS
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
CEREBROSPINAL FLUID
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
DIAGNOSTIC USES
FETUSES
HEART
MATERIALS
NERVOUS SYSTEM
NMR IMAGING
ORGANS
REAL TIME SYSTEMS
USES