Nuclear magnetic resonance in obstetrics and gynecology

The modern gynecologist has access to real time nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) images. This approach leads to an appreciation of the structure and function of an organ at the atomic level. The combination of NMR imaging and spectroscopy leads to images of female pelvic organs whose appearance is dependent not only on the reproductive and hormonal status of these structures, but also on the physical specifications of the scanner, the main magnetic field and the radiofrequency pulses as well as the time elapsed between them. The basis of gynecological diagnosis is at its optimum with NMR local coils in a time of only 20-25 ms with a resolution and penetration depth that has never before been achieved. Many obstetric and gynecologic investigations are best interpreted by a gynecologist's personal experience with USG, CT or angio-, veno- and lymphography. Such an individual can best evaluate NMR findings with three-dimensional pictures, in real-time, of fetal heart beat, on the one hand, to tumor staging on the other.