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Evaluating CMR
Imaging Techniques
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
- 1Key Points (1 page)
- 2Imaging Techniques (1 page)
- 3Magnetic Resonance Imaging: How It Works (1 page)
- 4Determining Tissue Area or Mass (1 page)
- 5Measuring Skeletal Muscle Mass (1 page)
- 6Measuring Intra-abdominal Fat (1 page)
- 7Measuring Ectopic Fat Using MRI (1 page)
- 8References (1 page)
Magnetic Resonance Imaging: How It Works
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Figure 1: 
Figure 1: MRI uses the interaction between strong magnetic fields and hydrogen nuclei (protons)—which are abundant in all biological tissues—to create cross-sectional images of the body (1, 2). Unlike CT, MRI is not known to have any adverse side effects and is therefore the preferred method for assessing whole body tissue composition. However, MRI takes much longer to acquire images, and analyzing these images is a more complex and time-consuming process. Using multiple images acquired with standard clinical magnets (e.g., 1.5 Tesla), whole body MRI data for fat and lean mass can be acquired in about 45 minutes (Figure 1) (3-5).
Reference
1. Heymsfield S.B. LTG, Wang Z., Going S.B. Human Body Composition. Second Edition. Windsor ON. Human Kinetics. 2005.
2. Ross R, Goodpaster B, Kelley D, et al. Magnetic resonance imaging in human body composition research. From quantitative to qualitative tissue measurement. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2000; 904: 12-7.
3. Ross R, Rissanen J, Pedwell H, et al. Influence of diet and exercise on skeletal muscle and visceral adipose tissue in men. J Appl Physiol 1996; 81: 2445-55.
4. Ross R. Magnetic resonance imaging provides new insights into the characterization of adipose and lean tissue distribution. Can J Physiol Pharmacol 1996; 74: 778-85.
5. Thomas EL, Saeed N, Hajnal JV, et al. Magnetic resonance imaging of total body fat. J Appl Physiol 1998; 85: 1778-85.
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