New MRIs on the Horizon

Courtesy of National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

MRI scans of the heart: upper left, torso with heart; upper right, cross section at aortic valve; lower left, lateral view of heart, pulmonic valve, and descending aorta; lower right, four-chamber view

In the not too distant future, emergency rooms may well take on the aura of Star Trek's hospital bay. New, state-of-the-art magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines offer fast, efficient, and highly detailed data, allowing physicians to make immediate and more accurate diagnoses of heart attack and stroke. Now, for the first time anywhere in the world, two of these new MRI machines are being put to the test in a four-year study at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md. A collaborative project between the hospital and three components of the National Institutes of Health (the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [NHLBI], the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke...