Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) News and Research

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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses a large magnet and radio waves to look at organs and structures inside your body. Health care professionals use MRI scans to diagnose a variety of conditions, from torn ligaments to tumors. MRIs are very useful for examining the brain and spinal cord. Also called: Magnetic resonance imaging, NMR, Nuclear magnetic resonance.

Breakdown of myelin may be the cause of Huntington's disease

Last month, Dr. George Bartzokis, director of the UCLA Memory Disorders and Alzheimer's Disease Clinic, suggested in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia that the breakdown of a type of myelin that develops late in life promotes the buildup of toxic amyloid plaques long associated with Alzheimer's disease.

16 Jun 2007

Simple test predicts a person's risk for developing dementia within six years with 87 percent accuracy

The test, developed in the study by the researchers, is a 14-point index combining medical history, cognitive testing, and physical examination. It requires no special equipment and can be given in a clinical setting such as a doctor's office or at a patient's bedside.

16 Jun 2007

New genetic cause for Joubert syndrome

An international study by researchers at Seattle Children?s Hospital Research Institute, the University of Washington School of Medicine, and Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands has identified a new genetic cause for Joubert syndrome (JS).

15 Jun 2007

In vivo imaging of siRNA delivery and silencing in tumors

Using magnetic nanoparticles labeled with dye molecules, a team of investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital has developed a delivery vehicle capable of transporting antitumor small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules into cells.

14 Jun 2007

Myelin and Huntington's disease

14 Jun 2007

Early results from Alzheimer's neuroimaging studies could speed research

Disease researchers may be able to reduce the time and expense associated with clinical trials, according to early results from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), a public-private research partnership organized by the National Institutes of Health.

14 Jun 2007

Dual-imaging technique improves functional abilities of patients who undergo brain surgery

Brain specialists associated with the Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and University Hospital say the ability to incorporate in real time two high-tech imaging tools into the operating room can improve the functional abilities of patients who undergo brain surgery.

14 Jun 2007

Can brain exercises improve thinking and concentration?

Can a fitness program for your brain improve thinking and concentration the way lifting weights can increase muscle strength?

14 Jun 2007

Blood pressure drop during bypass surgery linked to increased risk of cognitive decline

Patients whose mean arterial blood pressure drops during bypass surgery may be at risk for early difficulties in thinking, learning and memory, according to an article posted online today that will appear in the August 2007 print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

14 Jun 2007

Researchers track human stem cells transplanted into rat brain

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have illuminated the path taken by human neural stem cells that were transplanted into the brains of rats and mice, and found that the cells successfully navigate toward areas damaged by stroke.

5 Jun 2007

MRI detects cancers missed by mammography in breast cancer patients

A unique examination of one treatment center's use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in new breast cancer patients has found MRI to be superior to mammography in finding additional tumors in a breast in which cancer has already been diagnosed, and in detecting new tumors in a patient's supposedly healthy breast.

5 Jun 2007

Predicting treatment responses earlier for brain tumor patients

Using metabolic or molecular imaging to measure brain tumor patients' response to treatment is a powerful predictor of survival, notes a first-of-its-kind study presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of SNM, the world's largest society for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine professionals.

5 Jun 2007

Blood test may help signal tumor's remission, return in throat cancer patients

A blood test that detects proteins commonly released by a growing tumor could one day become a useful tool for monitoring the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiation treatment in people with advanced throat cancer, according to a study published in the June 1, 2007, issue of Clinical Cancer Research .

3 Jun 2007

MRI effective method for revealing anatomical details of soft tissues

Contrast agents can help to make these images even clearer and allow physiological processes to be followed in real time. Conventional gadolinium complexes currently used as MRI contrast agent cannot reveal anatomic structures.

1 Jun 2007

MRI helps predict recovery after spinal cord injury

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radiologists can better predict the likelihood of full or partial recovery of patients with acute spinal cord injuries (SCI), according to a study published in the June issue of the journal Radiology.

30 May 2007

All anxiety is not created equal!

All anxiety is not created equal, and a research team at the University of Illinois now has the data to prove it.

30 May 2007

Visual short-term memory capacity drops following sleep deprivation

When an air traffic controller at the end of a double shift forgets the location of an aircraft that had recently appeared on his screen, it may be that he did not properly take in the visual information.

24 May 2007

Pure oxygen harms the brain

A paramedic or doctor plops a mask over the face of a person struggling to breathe and begins dispensing pure oxygen.

24 May 2007

Magnetic resonance elastography enables noninvasive liver diagnoses

Two recent Mayo Clinic studies have found that magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), a new imaging technique invented at Mayo Clinic, is an accurate tool for non-invasive diagnosis of liver diseases.

24 May 2007

Breast MRI may have a role in evaluation of newly diagnosed breast cancers

Among women who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast appears helpful in determining surgical treatment, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

22 May 2007