Abstract
With great pleasure, I had this opportunity to repeat and get in full control of MRI theory since most of what I know is from the everyday practice.
The book Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Physical and Biological Principles by Bushong and Clarke published is a paperback with glossy paper, weighing 1112 g, with the dimensions 23.3 × 19.1 × 2.1 cm. It has 513 numbered pages and 11 preliminary pages. It is very well-illustrated and with a very useful additional part including two appendices: A – the Bloch Equations, and B – Additional Resources listing more than 60 web addresses. Afterwards, 244 multiple choice questions (with five possible answers), with a list of the correct answers following. Thereafter, a glossary of MRI terms with clearly and understandable explanations. Finally there are 18 index pages.
The content is divided into seven parts, each containing three to five chapters. All in all, there is a total of 30 chapters, making it very useful as a 30-lesson teaching book as the chapters hereby are easily overviewed from one lesson to the next. To make sure that you maintain focus, you will find challenge questions at the end of each chapter and the answers for each chapter are in the back of the book.
At the end of the preface, the author states that he has hidden an error on purpose to test the readers’ skills. And if you are just a little competitive, this could make you stick to the reading, if your morality should decline.
The language is clear and explanatory with well-placed repetitions to ensure that you stay on track. The tone is light and the humor of this author shines through, so the fun and jokes make you remember the occasionally abstract facts of MRI.
I also enjoyed reading Part I, “Fundamentals”, which clearly explained the basics of MRI and kept me on track all the way. Bravo! I took the following test and understood the questions and managed to pass with 2/3 correct. Very encouraging!
Part II, “The Magnetic Resonance Image”, covers radio-frequency pulse sequences, tissue parameters, contrast, and Fourier transforms in chapters 5–8: I am now spinning my protons around flipping them into the x-y plane (or else I won’t get any signal). And much to my surprise, I have 8 of 10 questions correct following this reading. My only explanation for this is an understandable text.
Part III, “The Imaging System”, deals with hardware – very interesting and often not much spoken of. Here the different types of magnets are described. Passive and active shielding of the magnet – all in all, very thorough and educational.
Part IV, “Image Formation”, includes digital imaging, spatial frequency domain, pulse sequence diagrams and images as seen, and brings you from binary digit (BIT) to the images. Although the clinical images do illustrate the educational point in the text, I would recommend that the authors update some images, especially the image of the prostate. MR imaging can do much better at the moment.
Part V, “Pulse Sequences”, refers to spin echo, chemical shift, magnetization transfer, steady state GRE, and other techniques. I believe this chapter will serve more as a resource the reader can come back to every once in a while and pick up facts.
As for Parts VI, “Applications”, and VII, “Safety”, I found the content more suitable as an introduction and this part could very well be extended, especially the part regarding diffusion as this feature is extremely useable and is implemented in many clinical settings.
The last chapter, “Managing a Magnetic Resonance Imaging System” is fine as it outlines the challenges you will meet if you plan to start a MRI department.
It is altogether a very understandable and useful advanced book on MRI for beginners. It is recommended as a do-it-yourself course either as a starter on MRI or consolidating your knowledge for those of us who never got this in “school”.