Radiology
MRI uses strong magnetic fields to align atomic nuclei (usually hydrogen protons) within body tissues, then uses a radio signal to disturb the axis of rotation of these nuclei and observes the radio frequency signal generated as the nuclei return to their baseline states. The radio signals are collected by small antennae, called coils, placed near the area of interest. An advantage of MRI is its ability to produce images in axial, coronal, sagittal and multiple oblique planes with equal ease. MRI scans give the best soft tissue contrast of all the imaging modalities. With advances in scanning speed and spatial resolution, and improvements in computer 3D algorithms and hardware, MRI has become an important tool in musculoskeletal radiology and neuroradiology.
Synthetic MRI
Creating a synthetic contrast weighted image is very quick and the scanner setting parameters can be changed interactively. This is different from acquiring the images directly on the MRI scanner with a pulse sequence where it might take several minutes to get new images with different settings. Synthetic MRI also enables the possibility to create new image contrast weightings after the scan has been completed and the patient has left the hospital. A prospective multi-reader, multi-case, multi-center clinical trial of overall image quality of synthetic MRI compared to conventional MRI in a general neuroimaging population has shown that synthetic MRI is non-inferior to conventional imaging.
Synthetic MRI is based on parametric maps. These maps are generated by using the MR scanner not to acquire an image, but to measure magnetic properties in the tissue.