[Imaging modalities for finding almonds in rice deserts]

In the traditional Danish Christmas dessert, ris à l'amande, one whole almond is hidden. The person who is lucky to find it in his portion is rewarded with a small gift, usually more sweets. We want to find out whether the hidden almond could be found by use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) or conventional X-ray examinations.

We made three portions of ris à l'amande containing respectively three, one and zero whole almonds. All three portions were X-rayed and scanned by use of both MRI and CT, and three medical doctors from the neuroradiology department counted the almonds. All the three participants where blinded.

We found that conventional X-ray was unsuitable for the purpose of finding whole almonds. In using either CT or MRI though, the hidden almonds were found.

In a comparison between CT and MRI, the preferred modality is MRI, as diagnostic imaging confidence is higher with MRI as with CT. Ultrasound is another modality not tested, but potentially an excellent method for detecting almonds in ris à l'amande.