Radiology of the hand

MRI - Positioning, regions

In to obtain a high spatial resolution in a reasonable examination time, the field of view (FoV) and the number of sequences must be kept small in MR imaging.

The patient is usually placed in the prone position and with the arm elevated ("Superman" position) without extension or lateral deviation of the hand. Due to the examination time of more than 15 minutes, the patient should be positioned comfortably, and the hand must be held firmly in place. If the referring physician provides a clear target order and the symptoms are known, the MRI examination can be limited to five regions:

  • MRI of the distal forearm portion (e.g. in the case of an intersection syndrome)

  • MRI of the carpus (e.g. in scapholunate dissociation)

  • MRI of the metacarpus (e.g. with ski thumb)

  • MRI of the fingers (e.g. for tendon ruptures)

  • MRI of the whole hand (e.g. for inflammatory systemic diseases).


Positioning and regions in MRI

Tags: Hand, Regions, MRI, Positionng