The Role of MRI in Diagnosis and Monitoring Multiple Sclerosis - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages Over the past years, accurate diagnosis of multiple sclerosis has been mainly dependent on medical history as well as a neurological exam on the brain and spinal cord functions respectively. Multiple tests are therefore often performed with the bid to understand the extent to which the disease has spread. The use of MRI has over the years proven to be effective in the detection and observation of multiple sclerosis progress (Almuntashri& Aviv, 2011). The image produced by MRI often presents neurologists with sufficient confirmation of inflammation in deeper components of the brain and the spinal cord as characterized by the disease.

The use of MRI has shown some levels of effectiveness in diagnosing and monitoring multiple sclerosis. Nonetheless, the contemporary conventional MRI is mainly limited to the detection of lesions such as cortically-based plaques. Relatively, advanced MRI techniques have been used in developing an in-depth understanding of multiple sclerosis pathophysiology (Napoli &Bakshi, 2010).

Compared to the other modalities, MRI turns out to be the best method for diagnosing as well as monitoring Multiple Sclerosis. The image quality produced by MRI is often high and vivid in presenting neurologists with sufficient information regarding the inflammatory lesions. The ability of MRI in revealing the presence of irritation in the interior parts of the brain and the spinal cord makes it one of the best modalities for testing multiple sclerosis.

This project aims to achieve the following objectives:

• Review the effectiveness of using MRI in diagnosing Multiple Sclerosis through the use of the following MRI consequences: the conventional T1, T2, the proton density, diffusion-weighted imaging, and the inversion recovery. Other MRI consequences include susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), magnetization transferring imaging, and functional MRI (fMRI),
• Detect and monitor multiple sclerosis lesions under different magnetic strengths
• Demonstrate how multiple sclerosis has developed over the years and how magnetic resonance imaging can be used in imaging, estimating, and predicting the resulting neurological impairments such as disabilities.
• This project will further analyze the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the longitudinal examination. A comparison will also be made between MRI and other clinical examinations including the CSF test and the CSFO oligoclonal index.

Hypothesis

Magnetic resonance procedure is sufficient for the detection and monitoring of multiple sclerosis

• Method

Because this project is merely a literature review, the methods that would be employed mainly include the following:

• The use of the University of Queensland (UQ) library databases in the selection of relevant information from recent publications.
• Focusing and building on the main keywords related to this topic such as “MRI and MS” and “MS in MRI” among others.
• Engaging in consultation with the unit coordinator regarding the information that demands further explanation.

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