Magnetic resonance neurography.

Abstract

Radiological methods exist for generating tissue-specific images of bone, vessels, lymphatics, abdominal viscera, and the central nervous system, but there has been no reliable means to generate a clinical image of a nerve. We present the first "image neurogram" and report a method for producing such images by use of commercial magnetic resonance imaging systems. The image depicts a human nerve in situ in relation with a nerve graft, wherein the nerve is rendered in isolation much like a vessel appears in isolation in a subtraction angiogram.