Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging clinical experience in San Francisco.

NMR is a new extremely promising imaging modality that combines the advantages of X-ray computed tomography by giving high resolution tomograms, of ultrasound by allowing imaging in any desired plane without the dangers from ionizing radiation and nuclear medicine by offering information about physiology and metabolic processes. These advantages are not combined with any of the drawbacks of the other modalities, and are due to the ability of NMR to provide information from four imaging parameters: 1) H density; 2) T1--the spin lattice relaxation parameters; 3) T2--the spin-spin relaxation parameter; and 4) information about proton motion. NMR is already a useful clinical tool in the study of brain, cord, mediastinum, pelvis, and is promising in the study of heart, kidneys, adrenals, liver, pancreas, and spleen.