How Cardiac MRI Is Moving Us Closer to Personalized Medicine

This imaging modality can help physicians select the optimal treatment strategy for individuals with certain types of heart disease.

Published: September 20, 2022

Screen Shot 2022-09-10 at 9.35.51 PM — Image courtesy of Cleveland Clinic In this cardiac MRI image, the blue arrow points to a bright area of scar tissue on the heart caused by a heart attack. The surrounding dark areas show normal, healthy heart tissue. Cardiac MRI is not more widely available due to the high level of expertise it requires. The hospital must purchase special software for their MR scanner and hire trained cMRI technicians to run it. Because the images are complex, it is necessary to have a cardiologist or radiologist who has completed an advanced cardiac imaging fellowship available to read and interpret the scans.

The effectiveness of drugs, devices and techniques for treating heart disease is determined through clinical trials conducted in thousands of individuals over long periods of time. When recommending treatment for a patient, physicians must rely on what has worked in similar patients. Since no treatment is 100% effective in everyone, this approach is not ideal. That’s why researchers are determined to find ways to tailor treatments to individuals.