Aa
Details on my 7T MRI today...the machine
Yes, you read that right. The opportunity to have a 7T done as part of a research project at OSU fell into my lap on Friday. I went today and had it done right after my appt. with the MS neuro, who is wonderful, in case you haven't picked that up from my posts so far!
I had been asking him at my last appointment just two weeks ago when they would be imaging live people in their 7T. I then went on to ask if we could us the 3T on my next MRI in December, because to date all of mine had been on 1.5's. You can imagine my surprise when he left a message at my home on Friday that this 7T could be done today. I felt like I had won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes!!!
I learned quite a bit today and will break it up into either small journal or smaller posts here, rather than rambling on and on.
First of all, the machine was a Phillips 7T, with a force field 70,000 times greater than that of the earth. The MS brain scan took about 50 minutes to complete. This was done without contrast - just my brain and the magnet. Unlike the doughnut shape of the other MRI's, this one was a full tube - I would guess about 8 feet long, but I'm just guessing. If you are claustrophobic this would be difficult to endure. However it is roomier inside that the other ones.
The noise is not noticeably louder than the 1.5 but it is definitely a different noise pattern. Instead of jackhammers it sounded more like traffic jam collisions of sounds. My husband was waiting down the hall and said he could feel the vibrations there and also he could hear the different sound oscillations the machine made.
During the test the vibrations I felt in my body were very noticeable. At one point I had to laugh because my tongue was vibrating. After a while I became very intuned to the vibrations in my body, based on the harmonics of the machine. To say it was a moving experience would put it mildly. Nothing was uncomfortable, but nothing was at all like the lesser strength MRI's.
So that's what I have to share about the machine.....I had the 7T MRI and lived to tell!!! :-)
Laura/ aka Lulu
I had been asking him at my last appointment just two weeks ago when they would be imaging live people in their 7T. I then went on to ask if we could us the 3T on my next MRI in December, because to date all of mine had been on 1.5's. You can imagine my surprise when he left a message at my home on Friday that this 7T could be done today. I felt like I had won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes!!!
I learned quite a bit today and will break it up into either small journal or smaller posts here, rather than rambling on and on.
First of all, the machine was a Phillips 7T, with a force field 70,000 times greater than that of the earth. The MS brain scan took about 50 minutes to complete. This was done without contrast - just my brain and the magnet. Unlike the doughnut shape of the other MRI's, this one was a full tube - I would guess about 8 feet long, but I'm just guessing. If you are claustrophobic this would be difficult to endure. However it is roomier inside that the other ones.
The noise is not noticeably louder than the 1.5 but it is definitely a different noise pattern. Instead of jackhammers it sounded more like traffic jam collisions of sounds. My husband was waiting down the hall and said he could feel the vibrations there and also he could hear the different sound oscillations the machine made.
During the test the vibrations I felt in my body were very noticeable. At one point I had to laugh because my tongue was vibrating. After a while I became very intuned to the vibrations in my body, based on the harmonics of the machine. To say it was a moving experience would put it mildly. Nothing was uncomfortable, but nothing was at all like the lesser strength MRI's.
So that's what I have to share about the machine.....I had the 7T MRI and lived to tell!!! :-)
Laura/ aka Lulu
Quix, thank you for putting your thoughts in here.
I personally would love to see my brain on a 7T as a limbolander, perhaps it would give me the answers I lack, do to my lesions simply looking like patches. I don't want to be a lesion counter, but then I have to work with my neuro's who at times are.
I do hope that some-day this will help others like me who are looking for answers.
Good discussion
~Sunnytoday~
I personally would love to see my brain on a 7T as a limbolander, perhaps it would give me the answers I lack, do to my lesions simply looking like patches. I don't want to be a lesion counter, but then I have to work with my neuro's who at times are.
I do hope that some-day this will help others like me who are looking for answers.
Good discussion
~Sunnytoday~
I have to pose a little other information here. The magnetic field disturbs the individual molecules and not the cells themselves. The question is whether the field is powerful enough to actually change or break the molecular bonds. That is the real issue. Also, though they don't really have the info, the difference between living close to a high magnetic field and having a 7T imaging is the time spent exposed to the field.
The comparison is 50 minutes in a very high field versus 24/7 for years exposed to a lower one. They are being quite cautious as they approach this new strength.
I agree with Laura. I don't care if this 7T remains a research tool. If it can provide more information about how this disease does its thing, then it is a very good tool to have.
But, I'm with Elaine as far as something like this becoming the "Gold Standard" as far as diagnosis. Though I want high-resolution imaging, I do NOT want to see a test become the only tool used to diagnose a disease like MS.
Quix
The comparison is 50 minutes in a very high field versus 24/7 for years exposed to a lower one. They are being quite cautious as they approach this new strength.
I agree with Laura. I don't care if this 7T remains a research tool. If it can provide more information about how this disease does its thing, then it is a very good tool to have.
But, I'm with Elaine as far as something like this becoming the "Gold Standard" as far as diagnosis. Though I want high-resolution imaging, I do NOT want to see a test become the only tool used to diagnose a disease like MS.
Quix
Wow, how exciting and interesting! All of mine have been on a 1T machine. The lesions show up, but they are truely horrible pictures. I can't wait to see the comparison.
Elaine,
You raise very valid concerns about the use of this type of force. From what I know, even though the magnetic field of an MRI can and has been built stronger, 7T will probably max out what the living human can be subjected to.
I don't have my paperwork here at work, but the research study specifically sets a limit of the number of MRI's that can a person can have on this machine over a lifetime. The physicist in charge of this machine told me she has been in it over 30 times for a full brain scan, with no ill effects.
As for the personal risk, I did this scan knowing full well that they don't know yet what the long term effects could be. I view this no differently than participating in a clinical trial or helping with other medical unknowns. Lots of chances were taken by the people who participated in the drug trials before we had wide access to the DMD's available now. I see this as a very well controlled, calculated risk, much safer than those trials or the current drugs being tested.
Hopefully the opportunity to study the grey and white matter of the brains of MS patients will lead investigators to new ideas and discoveries of how this disease develops in all of us.
My best,
Laura
You raise very valid concerns about the use of this type of force. From what I know, even though the magnetic field of an MRI can and has been built stronger, 7T will probably max out what the living human can be subjected to.
I don't have my paperwork here at work, but the research study specifically sets a limit of the number of MRI's that can a person can have on this machine over a lifetime. The physicist in charge of this machine told me she has been in it over 30 times for a full brain scan, with no ill effects.
As for the personal risk, I did this scan knowing full well that they don't know yet what the long term effects could be. I view this no differently than participating in a clinical trial or helping with other medical unknowns. Lots of chances were taken by the people who participated in the drug trials before we had wide access to the DMD's available now. I see this as a very well controlled, calculated risk, much safer than those trials or the current drugs being tested.
Hopefully the opportunity to study the grey and white matter of the brains of MS patients will lead investigators to new ideas and discoveries of how this disease develops in all of us.
My best,
Laura
wow... that's a strong mri... I'm glad you got to use it and see the difference.
I can't seem to get a T3 mri here..they do have a couple...but the specialist isn't sending me for one?? I just don't understand...if they are questioning my lesions you would think they would want a better look at them??
take care
wobbly
undx
I can't seem to get a T3 mri here..they do have a couple...but the specialist isn't sending me for one?? I just don't understand...if they are questioning my lesions you would think they would want a better look at them??
take care
wobbly
undx
HOLY C R A P!!!!!!!!!
Niiice! Oh, Laura, I'm happy for you. This is some opportunity.
They looking for anyone else?
When will you hear about what they saw?
ttys,
Shell
Niiice! Oh, Laura, I'm happy for you. This is some opportunity.
They looking for anyone else?
When will you hear about what they saw?
ttys,
Shell
Hi ,
Read your post regarding the 7T. Raised a curiousity question for me, do you and your physicists friends feel the same regarding the lower strength magnets or just the 7T or I guess for that matter, the 3T? Don't all the MRI machines disrupt the cells in the same manner, just to different degrees?
Rendean
Read your post regarding the 7T. Raised a curiousity question for me, do you and your physicists friends feel the same regarding the lower strength magnets or just the 7T or I guess for that matter, the 3T? Don't all the MRI machines disrupt the cells in the same manner, just to different degrees?
Rendean
Part II - the test
The doctor who ran the machine and is doing the study on the 7T machine is looking at the imaging quality of both the white matter and the grey brain matter. When my test was concluded, she sat with me and my husband at their computer and showed us a sampling of my brain images.
Less than 2 hours earlier my husband and I had seen my brain MRI from December on my neuro's computer and discussed my lesions with him, so I had a very fresh memory of what I should see.
A "blob" of a lesion - actually looks like a paint splatter on the 1.5 picture - transformed into a different shape on the 7T. It is actually "S" shaped, and is open on both ends. Wow! My blood vessels and arteries were so clear in the details.
Even more amazing, she was able to show me the grey matter and point out what she believes may be more lesions. This doctor is a physicist responsible for the MRI machine and not a radiologist or neurologist. The true interpretation of the films will be done in the next few days.
Of course I asked for a copy of the MRI for my records - but they are using a totally different program to view these films and it isn't like the 1.5T and 3T programs. She is going to burn some of the more picturesqueviews in jpeg format for me and send them on. When I get these images I will post comparisons for you to see. My neuro will have full access to these films and on my next appt. you know I will be asking to see them.
Among other things, they are hopeful that this increased detail will shed some clues on the structure of what's causing the myelin destruction. The 7T machine should be providing more answers for MS researchers.
Overwhelmed,
Lulu
The doctor who ran the machine and is doing the study on the 7T machine is looking at the imaging quality of both the white matter and the grey brain matter. When my test was concluded, she sat with me and my husband at their computer and showed us a sampling of my brain images.
Less than 2 hours earlier my husband and I had seen my brain MRI from December on my neuro's computer and discussed my lesions with him, so I had a very fresh memory of what I should see.
A "blob" of a lesion - actually looks like a paint splatter on the 1.5 picture - transformed into a different shape on the 7T. It is actually "S" shaped, and is open on both ends. Wow! My blood vessels and arteries were so clear in the details.
Even more amazing, she was able to show me the grey matter and point out what she believes may be more lesions. This doctor is a physicist responsible for the MRI machine and not a radiologist or neurologist. The true interpretation of the films will be done in the next few days.
Of course I asked for a copy of the MRI for my records - but they are using a totally different program to view these films and it isn't like the 1.5T and 3T programs. She is going to burn some of the more picturesqueviews in jpeg format for me and send them on. When I get these images I will post comparisons for you to see. My neuro will have full access to these films and on my next appt. you know I will be asking to see them.
Among other things, they are hopeful that this increased detail will shed some clues on the structure of what's causing the myelin destruction. The 7T machine should be providing more answers for MS researchers.
Overwhelmed,
Lulu
I'll throw my hat into the ring as well for the guinea pig thing but, only if it invoves the 7T!
I already saw a bunch of the images - I wrote about them in the next post. And yes, I love being a guinea pig! It was amazing. I keep using that word, but can't think of a better adjective ............
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