Magnetic resonance tomography (MRT)

Magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) is an extremely modern imaging technology that can provide different sectional images of almost every region of the body. In addition, image sequences can be processed with a computer to create three-dimensional images, so that we can evaluate almost every tissue and organ from all sides. With the help of MRT, images of various soft parts of the body, e.g., connective tissue, muscle tissue, or nerve tissue, can be created with a distinctness and differentiation that was previously impossible. But also fluid-filled cavities, such as the heart, blood vessels, bile duct, and pancreatic duct can be imaged extremely well and evaluated without using contrast agents. The state-of-the-art generation of devices like the ones we use in our practice also make it possible to create images of organs and tissues in motion, which is very important in evaluating the function of joints.

The advantages of MRT at a glance

• No radiation exposure, as no X-rays are used to create the images.
• A risk-free and pain-free examination.
• The organs and tissues can be examined on every level and from every angle.
• A high contrast between healthy tissue and pathological changes.
• Excellent images of most of the vessels with non-invasive methods.
• An extremely mild procedure using contrast agents.
• A relatively short examination time.

What does magnetic resonance tomography mean?

MRT does not work with X-rays, but rather with magnetic fields and radio waves. That is why the patient is not exposed to any radiation during a magnetic resonance tomography examination.
The signals that emit nuclei in the body when they are in a strong magnetic field are stimulated by a high-frequency impulse, and then recorded and assembled into an image. All nuclei have their own individual angular momentum, the so-called nuclear spin. With their spin these nuclei create their own minimal magnetic field. Hydrogen nuclei are particularly important here, as this element with its own peculiar nuclear spin is the most frequent element found in the human body.
The magnetic alignment of hydrogen nuclei is purely accidental in nature. If, however, one exposes the body to a strong external magnetic field, then these atomic nuclei all line up in the same direction; in the human body they line up in a longitudinal direction.
In addition to this strong magnetic field, which is completely harmless for humans, one then bombards the body with external, pulsing, high frequency radio waves, which alters the parallel direction of the hydrogen nuclei in the magnetic field. After each impulse, the direction of the angular momentum of the hydrogen nuclei changes back into the longitudinal direction, as dictated by the magnets. In this case, the nuclei emit signals that are rendered by the computer into images. However, this alone is not enough to obtain sectional images of the body that can be evaluated. That is why the body is exposed to additional gradient magnetic fields, which are perpendicular to each other in the three spatial axes. With the aid of these magnetic systems, series of individual images are created, so-called sequences, which allow images of areas of the body to be created from different angles.