Few discoveries have truly transformed the modern medical science as much as imaging modalities , beginning from the discovery of X – rays in 1895 by Conrad Rntgen , followed by computer processed combination of X – rays , the Computed Tomography Scan(C T Scan ) , which produced cross sectional images as virtual slices of body , allowing us to visualise the internal structures without cut – opening it ie non- invasively , almost like imagining a fantasy !

CT Scan has been a remarkable discovery leading to the award of prestigious Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, in the year 1979 to South Africa born American Physicist Dr Allan Cormack and British electrical engineer, Dr Godfrey Hounsefield .

MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) went further and completely transformed the imaging process as this is extremely safe and equally versatile in acquiring images because it uses safe – gradients and radio waves instead of ionising radiation in CT scanner, to gather the pre requisite informations which is effectively converted into 2D and 3D images in any desired plane.

Unlike modern CT Scan, MRI remains quite costly because of heavy maintenance cost due to the necessity of keeping the superconducting magnet functioning in artificially created extreme cold Environment effected by liquid Helium and a layer of liquid nitrogen around the magnet.

MRI takes a lot of time to complete the study and is prone to movement related artefacts easily. These remain cause of worry. Restless people and children find it difficult to take the test. Also for people who are claustrophobic (fear for narrow space) and dislike loud noises, produced by radio pulse generators or those who have metallic implants in their body, are not advised to take this test . Recently a lot of welcome changes have taken place in their design to address the above problems but it has only enhanced the cost substantially and has restricted its use in resource poor countries.