NMR imaging of the heart

It is now possible to obtain satisfactory images of the heart by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Proton images of the heart were first demonstrated by Damadian in 1977. Normal and abnormal cardiac NMR images, as well as good quality images of the pericardium, have since been achieved by other groups of workers. Technical advances, including gating of the examination by the patients' ECG, have led to considerable improvement in image quality over the past few years. The principles of NMR, of NMR technology, and cardiac imaging have been previously described