While magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is already well established as a premiere non-invasive imaging technology, patients with implantable pacemakers, implantable cardiac devices, neurostimulators and other medical devices are often denied the evaluation their medical situation urgently requires.
Why? The simple fact is that device safety is still an issue: People with implantable devices cannot undergo MRI.
In its March 29 issue, The New England Journal of Medicine published a study focused on the function and effectiveness of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the detection of breast cancer. MRIs use magnetic fields to highlight and differentiate between normal and abnormal tissue. In nearly 1,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer in one breast, an MRI scan was able to detect breast cancer in the other breast in 3 percent (30 out of 969) women. The presence of these abnormal tissues was missed by both mammography and clinical examination