Ultra-High-Field MRI: A Snapshot of Its Growing Utility in Neuro Care -- A glimpse into one of the largest collections of patients imaged at 7T

“...The value added in an MS case
Another example is provided by the images below, which show the white matter in a patient with advanced MS. The lower-field (1.5T) image at the bottom shows a uniform field of signal hyperintensity (brightness), but the 7T image at the top allows details within the disease to be appreciated with greater resolution. Note the myriad rounded lesions that appear superimposed at 7T but appear coalesced at lower field.
MRIs of white matter in a patient with advanced MS taken at 7T (top) and at 1.5T (bottom).
Moreover, 7T reveals a central black dot at the center of nearly all lesions (arrow in the upper image shows one example), which represents the effects of blood flow in a central vein. This association is well established from microscopic pathology, and it can now be demonstrated on MRI with the advent of 7T. In the future, observation of this feature may help determine an MS diagnosis by distinguishing it from numerous look-alikes at lower magnetic field...”

Few institutions use 7T MRI scanning in close relation with an active hospital. Here’s a glimpse of how Cleveland Clinic is leveraging its 7T scanner for clinical insights across a wide range of disorders.