MRI in pulmonary nodules

Although being a radiation free modality, MRI is not the first choice imaging tool for detection as well as classification of pulmonary nodules. Two methodical drawbacks predominate: Unfavourable artifacts through pulsation and breathing, particularly when standard spin echo sequences are used and the signal loss due to the microscopically heterogeneous magnetic susceptibility in the millions of air/tissue interfaces resulting in extremely short T2-star relaxation time. Furthermore, the low proton density of inflated lung tissue and the signal dephasing due to pulmonary blood flow hamper imaging. Long examinatio…