What is MRI? | How is MRI different? | What is MRI used for?
How does MRI work?

Susquehanna MRI is located in a modern and spacious facility on Susquehanna Health System's Divine Providence Hospital campus. Complete with an open magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system and a high-field strength MRI, patients benefit from the latest in medical imaging technology with superior performance. With these two full-time units available, patients are seen fast while their doctors receive the results from their scans quickly. An investment of this magnitude demonstrates the Health System's commitment to providing patients with maximum comfort and the most advanced imaging services currently available in the healthcare industry.

MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging and is a method that doctors use to look inside the human body and obtain anatomical and functional diagnostic information. Shown here are examples of MRI images.

These are MRI scans of the spine and head. One can see the clear contrast between the bones, fluids and tissue. The images look much different than what one is accustomed to seeing in other diagnostic procedures such as X-rays.

All diagnostic imaging procedures provide information about the form and/or function of the body. MR images typically contain greater information about the body's soft tissue than other procedures. This means that MRI can provide highly detailed anatomical images of the body. In addition, trained medical professionals can produce images with varying contrast, showing many different planes of the body.

MRI is used for all parts of the body and is effective in the clinical evaluation of the following conditions:

• Brain disorders.
• Traumatic injuries.
• Eye abnormalities.
• Spine diseases.
• Tumor detection.
• Liver and other abdominal diseases.
• Knee and shoulder injuries.
• Musculoskeletal disorders.
• Facial/neck abnormalities.
• Infection.
• Cardiac malformations.
• Blood flow and vessel disorders.

MRI uses a computer and the physical properties of magnetic fields and radio waves to produce images of the soft tissues within the body. MRI signals from the body are generated using a safe magnetic field along with radio waves. The MRI signals are detected and converted to a form which the computer understands. The computer processes the MRI signals from the body to form images. Different tissue characteristics are revealed and translated into different contrast levels on the images. The trained physician can then view the images and give a diagnosis.