A technique known as functional MRI, for example, has reportedly given new insights into the practice of acupuncture. Noting that fMRI can detect increased blood flow in portions of the brain being stimulated, researchers at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey measured pain-triggered brain activity in subjects before and after an acupuncture session. They found a high incidence of decreased brain activity after the procedure, which corroborated the more subjective accounts of the patients, who reported feeling less pain. MRI is also finding greater applications in cardiology. Researchers at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York presented preliminary data for a variation of the MRI technique which, they say, can noninvasively show soft plaque in the coronary arteries.
Soft plaque is more likely to rupture than hard, stable plaque, the researchers say.
MRI is also going up against ultrasound in prenatal monitoring. MRI is now being used as a follow-up to provide more information when fetal abnormalities are suspected at a prenatal ultrasound exam, according to two studies presented at the conference. Ultrafast MRI techniques now make it possible to obtain high-quality diagnostic images of the fetus, without sedation or anesthesia. This was not possible previously, researchers explain, because fetal motion degraded the images using older and slower MRI techniques. Currently, it is only used in selected cases in which fetal abnormalities are suspected.