MRI of Tissues with Short T2s or T2*s [Bydder; Fullerton; Young - Wiley - Blackwell]

Up to now MRI could not be used clinically for imaging fine structures of bones or muscles. Since the late 1990s however, the scene has changed dramatically. In particular, Graeme Bydder and his many collaborators have demonstrated the possibility – and importance – of imaging structures in the body that were previously regarded as being “MR Invisible”. The images obtained with a variety of these newly developed methods exhibit complex contrast, resulting in a new quality of images for a wide range of new applications. This Handbook is designed to enable the radiology community to begin their assessment of how best to exploit these new capabilities. It is organised in four major sections – the first of which, after an Introduction, deals with the basic science underlying the rest of the contents of the Handbook. The second, larger, section describes the techniques which are used in recovering the short T2 and T2* data from which the images are reconstructed. The third and fourth sections present a range of applications of the methods described earlier. The third section deals with pre-clinical uses and studies, while the final section describes a range of clinical applications. It is this last section that will surely have the biggest impact on the development in the next few years as the huge promise of Short T2 and T2* Imaging will be exploited to the benefit of patients. In many instances, the authors of an article are the only research group who have published on the topic they describe. This demonstrates that this Handbook presents a range of methods and applications with a huge potential for future developments.