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Most MR machines take highly detailed pictures of internal tissues, so that physicians can see the anatomic structure of the brain and other organs or tissues. Functional MR (fMR) enables physicians to see how the body functions. For example, fMR taken of the brain lets physicians see the cerebral responses to stimulation in real time. When a patient is asked to move in a certain way, fMR enables physicians to see which area of the brain is responsible for performing that function.
At Children's Hospital Boston, fMR scanners are used in the diagnosis and treatment plan of neurological disorders such as epilepsy, stroke, cerebral palsy, brain tumors and brain injury, mental retardation, autism and learning disabilities. In addition, Children's researchers are using this tool to study learning disabilities, epilepsy, and hydrocephalus. See "A Window into the Living Brain", Dream Magazine Research Edition, 2005.
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A mobile MR, the first of its kind, is being used to assist surgeons in one of Children's Hospital's new operating rooms. This mobile "intraoperative MR," which is suspended from the ceiling, lets our surgeons scan patients before completing surgery to obtain the most precise and complete resection.
