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How many times do you have to hold your breath during an MRI?

However, they often require patients to spend a long time in a tight space. Cardiac MRI exams can last 45 to 90 minutes and require multiple 10- to 20-second breath holds by the patient.

medicine.missouri.edu - HeartSpeed: Fast Cardiac MRIs with the Freedom to Breathe

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It’s no secret – cardiac magnetic resonance imaging exams, or cardiac MRIs, aren’t exactly fun. The exams are used to detect and monitor disease and evaluate the heart’s anatomy and function. However, they often require patients to spend a long time in a tight space. Cardiac MRI exams can last 45 to 90 minutes and require multiple 10- to 20-second breath holds by the patient. The procedure can be exhausting for patients, particularly frail patients with breathing difficulties who are unable to hold their breath. A team of researchers at the University of Missouri is working to fix that problem through a project called HeartSpeed. HeartSpeed uses data analysis software to eliminate the need for patients to hold their breath. “We found that we could separate breathing motion from the heart motion quite well using the software, and we thought we should try to start applying this to real patient data to make a clinical tool,” said Steve Van Doren, PhD, a professor of biochemistry at MU. The goal is a more comfortable scan in which patients are able to breathe freely. Shorter procedure times will also result in increased efficiency and lower costs. “Patients will benefit because it will be easier for them to do the exam. Hopefully, the radiologist or cardiologist who reads the MRI will benefit, because the images will be much better,” said Talissa Altes, MD, chair of the Department of Radiology at the MU School of Medicine. Researchers believe their work will produce more information specific to the patient’s cardiac function within a single imaging session. For example, doctors would be able to spot a slight murmur or arrhythmia – conditions that conventional MRI is unable to pick up. “The data itself that we get back, that will be specific to each individual patient and specific to their pathology in a way that we haven't been able to acquire in the past,” said Robert Thomen, PhD, an assistant professor of radiology and bioengineering. Doctors will then be able to recommend therapies that are better catered to the individual patient – an idea known as precision medicine. The HeartSpeed team brings together researchers and clinicians from a variety of disciplines, including medicine, engineering and biochemistry. “Working across departments can really accelerate research efforts toward clinical translation,” Thomen said. “That’s what this whole research philosophy is about with the NextGen Precision Health Institute.”

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Why do you hold your breath during MRI?

Typically, MRI techs have instructed patients to hold their breath at the end of an inhale. However, a recent study by researchers at Stanford found that having patients hold their breath at the end of the exhale reduced respiratory motion artifacts on liver MRI.

invisionsallyjobe.com - Study: Holding breath at end of exhale may lead to clearer MRI results

Study: Holding breath at end of exhale may lead to clearer MRI results

Deep breathe in. Deep breathe out. Inhale. Now hold.

No, it’s not a yoga class. It’s what you’ll hear if you undergo an MRI. If you’ve never had an MRI, this non-invasive imaging procedure requires the patient to stay incredibly still for the machine to work effectively. Typically, MRI techs have instructed patients to hold their breath at the end of an inhale. However, a recent study by researchers at Stanford found that having patients hold their breath at the end of the exhale reduced respiratory motion artifacts on liver MRI. The researchers compared both techniques and published their findings in The American Journal of Roentgenology published the study online March 5, 2019. You can read the full study here. More effective results with less visual noise on MRIs is likely to improve the accuracy of MRI result reading, and lead to more effective treatment.

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