New MRI Gives More to MS Patients- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
New MRI Gives More to MS Patients- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
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September 1, 2000
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In This Issue:
New MRI Gives More to MS Patients
Nominate a Leader
AIDS Ride Traffic Notice
Pike Notes
Hohmann to lead Partners IRB program
Weighing six tons and measuring 512 cubic feet, a brand-new MRI machine was installed on August 5 at the Center for Neurological Imaging (CNI), 221 Longwood Avenue. This new machine—which will be devoted primarily to neurological imaging of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients—has the ability to create images with finer resolution than ever before, which can lead to a more accurate diagnosis and detection of neurological diseases and disorders. This translates into more successful strategies for measuring disease progression and treatment. “From [the MRI’s ] images, we can measure the precise volume of a lesion or damaged area, and over time, quantitatively determine whether it’s growing,” says Charles R.G. Guttmann, MD, director of the CNI. The CNI—a joint venture between BWH’s Radiology and Neurology departments, and the site of the new MRI machine—officially opened with the machine’s arrival. It is one of three sections of the Multiple Sclerosis Center, which itself is a joint venture between BWH and MGH. The other two major areas of the MS Center are the clinical diagnostic and treatment center at 333 Longwood Avenue, and MS immunology clinical laboratories at the Harvard Institute of Medicine. According to Howard L. Weiner, MD, head of the MS Center, the new MRI machine will further advance the diagnosis and treatment of MS. “With three-dimensional image reconstruction and quantitative analysis, we will be able to care more effectively for our MS patients, and will be able to further study and understand the disease,” said Weiner. “Thanks to Drs. Weiner, Ferenc Jolesz (director of radiology research and of the MRI guided therapy program), Lawrence Panych (senior MRI physicist), Simon Warfield (senior computer scientist) and other dedicated group members, the CNI will have a major impact on our ability to understand and treat MS by working synergistically with the clinical and immunologic arms of the MS Center,” Guttmann said. “In addition to MS patients, the CNI will also serve patients with other neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s Disease.”