SWIFT MRI assists detection of Oral Cancer

Research suggests that a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique called SWIFT (sweep imaging with Fourier transform), developed by Agilent Technologies, appears to provide an enhanced three-dimensional assessment that may aid in detecting the spread of Oral Cancer in the jawbone. Detecting bone invasion prior to surgery is often difficult using currently available imaging techniques, but SWIFT offers delineated assessment of cortical (compact bone which forms the outer shell of some structures) and medullary (inner cavity where marrow is stored) bone, which is difficult with conventional imaging. In the study, SWIFT produced images with sufficient resolution (156-273 �m) and contrast to allow accurate depiction of tumor invasion of cortical and medullary bone. When histologic sections were compared with the images obtained by the SWIFT technique, a high degree of correlation was found. The findings were reported in Archives of Otolaryngology�Head and Neck Surgery (2011;137[9]:916-919)