The Mexican medical union wastes functional magnetic resonance imaging: expert

In Mexico, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is underused, a technique that measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow; It is key to research, diagnostic accuracy and intervention for brain diseases, such as Parkinson’s.

Luis Concha Loya, researcher at the Institute of Neurobiology of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), expressed the above during the conference What is neuroimaging?, its uses and applications, which is part of the cycle Neurosciences in Mexico and the world, organized by El Colegio Nacional.

He highlighted that despite the advantages that fMRI offers, it is given little clinical use compared to other neuroanatomical imaging techniques. It is safer than positron emission tomography and computed tomography because it does not use ionizing radiationhe explained.

Another point in favor is that current equipment has reached such a high quality that it provides an exquisite level of detail of the different brain structures, such as the thickness of the cortex, the optic nerve and the cerebellum. It also indicates brain connectivity from certain stimuli.

Concha Loya is part of the National Magnetic Resonance Imaging Laboratory (Lanirem) of UNAM, based in Juriquilla, Querétaro. He considers that the medical union is the cause of the waste of this technical resource. We receive patients from Mexico City, Guadalajara, Guanajuato and San Luis Potosí, which allows us to see that the responsibility for not having more studies of this type falls on those who must indicate them.comments.

Epilepsy detection

Functional MRI operates on the principle that when a region of the brain is activated it needs more oxygen to feed the functioning neurons. This change in oxygen demand causes an increase in blood flow to that area, which can be detected with an fMRI scanner.

Depending on the brand, such a device has a distinctive design, but generally consists of a large, cylindrical tube surrounded by a powerful magnet that forms a magnetic field.

The scanner usually has a computer connected to it that processes the signals it receives and produces images in real time.

This magnetic field aligns the protons in the water of the body, and when radio waves are sent these protons become misaligned and when they rearrange themselves they emit signals that are captured by a computer where they are formed.

This technique can be used in the study and diagnosis of diseases such as epilepsy, strokes, dementias such as Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, depression and autism spectrum disorder, among others.

In addition, fMRI has also proven useful in studies on memory, learning, language and decision making, as it contributes to a better understanding of normal brain function and the bases of human cognition.

The academic considered that to achieve fMRI as it is currently known, multidisciplinary scientific advances dating back to the 1940s were required; meanwhile, the contribution of a dozen scientists It is one of the techniques that has the most Nobel Prize winners around it.

He highlighted the contribution of Raymond Damadian, a pioneer in the development of magnetic resonance imaging for medical use. He founded a company that in the 70s designed the device known as The Indomitable, capable of combining MRI with clinical applications.

Since then, computers have evolved so much that they can now do hybrid analysis; for example, functional magnetic resonance imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) or electrophysiology.

In neuroscience we like multidisciplinary, because it brings together tools to obtain information about the same phenomenon, but from different points.highlighted the researcher.

Almost all patients who require a brain activity study can undergo fMRI, with the exception of those with cardiac devices, metal implants, joint prostheses, or surgical clips, as they could be damaged or interfere with the magnetic field.

In Mexico there are few places where it is practiced, among them the Specialty Hospital of Mexico City, the Manuel Velasco Suárez National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, the Lanierm of the UNAM and a couple of private hospitals in Monterrey, Guadalajara and the Mexico City.

For this technique to become popular, we need more places with devices that do it and for doctors to ask for them. We have already taken on the task of informing the medical community about the virtues it has to increase diagnostic or intervention accuracy.concluded the specialist from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.