New Technology Enhances MRI Capabilities

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Source: St. ph's Hospital and Medical Center

Date: 2006-01-05

URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060105083855.htm

New Technology Enhances MRI Capabilities

Researchers at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix have

developed a new method that allows technicians to obtain clearer

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans with less sensitivity to

patient motion.

PROPELLER is an acronym for " Periodically Rotated Overlapping

ParallEL Lines with Enhanced Reconstruction. " This method acquires

data in a unique way that allows one to track the motion of the

patient during the MRI scan. The motion can then be removed.

" While PROPELLER technology continues to be refined, GE has already

incorporated the novel method into new medical equipment, " said Jim

Pipe, senior staff scientist in the MRI Department at Barrow. " We

believe that PROPELLER technology will help drive the future of

MRI. "

There are two major applications for this method. The first is

motion-insensitive imaging. For the first time, high-quality MRI

scans can be collected on many segments of the population who cannot

hold still (children, Parkinson's patients, etc.). This is leading

the technology to a point where patient motion, which may be the

biggest obstacle to good images, is no longer a factor.

The second application for PROPELLER is stroke imaging. The

technology used to detect and characterize strokes,

called " Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI), " is extremely sensitive to

even minute motion in a patient. Prior to PROPELLER, DWI images

suffered in quality because the methods used to reduce this motion

sensitivity also reduced image quality. With PROPELLER DWI, small

strokes are much easier to detect, grade and follow during

treatment.