MRI

The GE twinspeed HDx 14.0 MR system is a 1.5 Tesla magnet dedicated to cardiovascular research.

One of the techniques being studied with different types of heart disease is viability, or looking at heart muscle damage to see if there are areas that can be helped by revascularizing the muscle. Cardiac MR exams are time-consuming, so work is being done on pulse sequences and devising new techniques to shorten exam times and make the process easier for patients.

Real-time imaging techniques to image the heart while it is beating and while the person is breathing normally may revolutionize the way cardiac MR imaging is performed because currently, cardiac MR exams require people to hold their breaths while the scan is being acquired.

Another area of study is cardiac function or measuring the ability of the heart to contract.

The IRCCI MR and cardiac catheterization labs are connected via a sliding door. Through the innovation of GE, an XMR (X-ray/MR bed) was developed. Now, patients undergoing a cardiac catheterization procedure can have an MR immediately after to study the effects of the procedure on the heart tissue. The XMR bed slides on a track between the MR and the cardiac catheterization labs to make this possible.