Magnetic Resonance-Guided Interventions: The State of the Art

This issue of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Clinics of North America brings together a wide range of expert opinions in the field of MR-guided therapy. The specific goal is to reflect the state of the art in the use of MR imaging to guide interventional radiology and surgery, and to allow us an opportunity to demonstrate the extraordinary advances being made in clinical care. The first set of three articles covers the use of MR imaging in guiding highly precise interventions in the brain and spine—focused acoustic energy through the intact-skull to treat tremors, cryotherapy of spinal lesions in very young patients, and nerve blocks and perineural injections in challenging areas. The next set of four articles covers the use of MR imaging in guiding interventions in the thoracic area—the more established use in breast biopsy, and emerging use in surgery planning and therapy monitoring, recent advances in techniques and hardware for tracking of catheters and endovascular devices, as well as the daunting challenges in building MR-compatible supporting devices for cardiac interventions. The third set of three articles covers the use of MR guidance for detection and treatments of cancers of the pelvis—targeted biopsy and focal and whole gland thermal ablative treatments for prostate cancer, and radiation therapy of gynecologic cancers. The last set of four articles covers technological aspects of interventional MR imaging—drug delivery, high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy, and the different demands on MR imaging for interventional compared with diagnostic use. The last article in the issue includes words of experience from a mature interventional MR imaging clinic-based practice on streamlining the procedural workflow, increasing awareness of the technology, expanding referral bases, and boosting the satisfaction of both patients and referring services.

We thank the contributing authors for sharing their knowledge in each of the articles, as well as the editors, Nina Geller, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Meredith Clinton, at Elsevier, for helping create this issue.

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