a medical diagnostic procedure utilizing the phenomenon of
nuclear magnetic resonance to generate images of internal parts of the body. It depends on the differential absorption of electromagnetic radiation by different types of living tissue in a magnetic field. It is complementary to X-ray imaging in that the softer tissue show more prominently in magnetic resonance images, rather than bone, as with X-rays. It is a non-invasive procedure, allowing such images to be obtained without penetration of the tissue by objects. It is abbreviated
MRI. As with
computerized tomography, the results are usually presented as images of sequential planar sections of that part of the body of concern to the physician. [
PJC]