Photo by Liz West

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MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, is a safe, widely used scanning tool that allows doctors to see what lies beneath our surface. MRI uses a magnetic field to generate images.

During an MRI, patients are eased into a large, tube-like machine, given earplugs and told to lie still. The scanner is loud, cramped and expensive — but very accurate. It does not emit radiation like X-rays, PET and CT scans do.

However, people with metal hips, rods or other implants can’t get MRIs. And the magnetic-based machine can’t be used during surgery, obviously, since surgical tools are metal.

Another flaw: MRI can’t get a clear image of the lungs, so pulmonary patients must have CT scans.

But there may be a solution on the horizon: low-field MRI machines with high-performance MRI technology, a relatively new invention.

Volunteers needed

Researchers at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have developed an MRI system that uses a lower magnetic field. 

They’re now testing the new machine on up to 1,600 people to see if it’s as effective as — or, at least when it comes to detecting the lungs, better than — a conventional MRI scanner.

“This could have a big effect on healthcare by making [MRIs] less expensive,” said Dr. Adrienne Campbell, the study’s principal investigator. 

“It could allow MRIs to be more accessible for patients with implants, and it could help us…diagnose lung disease.”

For the clinical trial currently underway, NIH is seeking healthy volunteers over age 18 to visit the Bethesda campus just once or twice. Adults with pacemakers or defibrillators are also invited to participate. 

What the test entails

As with any MRI, you’ll be occasionally asked to hold your breath for up to 20 seconds, and you will be inside the scanner for up to two hours.

Some participants can agree to have a dye called gadolinium, which enhances the images, injected into their arm. They can also agree to take a drug called a vasodilator to help detect areas of the heart with poor blood supply. 

It will likely be years before these lower magnetic field MRI systems are rolled out to the public. But the system could make MRIs more affordable and could better help pulmonary patients.

“MRI offers us the ability to measure lung function, which CT doesn’t allow us to do,” Dr. Campbell said. “MRI could have some advantages over CT to measure lung function.”

In addition, surgeons could use the MRI systems with low magnetic fields to help guide them during a procedure. “It has the ability to image patients during intervention with metal devices,” Campbell said.

Compensation is available. For more information, call 1-800-411-1222, (301) 451-4383, or email PRPL@cc.nih.gov.