Safer and faster new heart scanning method developed

A new approach to cardiac imaging has been developed by the University of Oxford that could improve the safety and efficiency of diagnostic imaging.

The method involves using a property of hydrogen atoms to create a pixel-by-pixel map of the heart called a T1-map, which allows examination of healthy and diseased heart tissue in greater detail than before.

T1 is the time constant that describes how quickly atoms return to normal thermodynamic state after being affected by radio waves and strong magnetic fields. Long T1 times indicate the presence of more water, something found in a number of heart conditions.

This type of mapping can give clearer results compared to traditional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, which require doctors to judge relative shades of light and dark on an image, rather than the objective number T1 scans provide.

Additionally, current MRI scans of the heart require patients to be injected with two substances – the medication adenosine and the rare earth heavy metal gadolinium, which is used as a contrast agent, but can sometimes have a negative health impact.

Dr Stefan Piechnik, who developed the specific T1 mapping technique at Oxford, said: "We can now get results without gadolinium, meaning we have a technique that is safer and quicker and can be used with more people. The results are also less dependent on interpreting the images."