Tutorial: Cardiac CINE MRI Process with Dr. Arai

Declining cardiac function is a key indicator of heart disease. Doctors determine cardiac function by measuring the heart’s squeezing ability. The gold standard test to accurately make this assessment uses Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), but reading MRI images is a manual and slow process. It can take a skilled cardiologist up to 20 minutes to read these images—time the cardiologist could be spending with his or her patients. Making this measurement process more efficient will enhance doctors’ ability to diagnose heart conditions early, and carries broad implications for advancing the science of heart disease treatment. By revolutionizing the process of diagnosing heart disease, we can give doctors their best opportunity to proactively create robust treatment plans for stopping this silent killer. Dr. Arai is a Senior investigator in the Laboratory of Cardiac Energetics in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Division of Intramural Research.