In 2003, the Nobel Prize awarded to Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield for their contributions to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) focused scientific recognition on this medical technology based on atomic physics, but real-world recognition has finally arrived as well. MRI is becoming a diagnostic standard for an increasing number of soft tissue applications–degenerative disc disease in the lower back, for example, and certain neurological indications, where it is used to diagnose multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. Technological improvements over the last ten years in image acquisition speed and image processing have allowed this once esoteric research modality to migrate into the diagnosis and staging of cancer, stroke, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive disorders like Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, autism and attention deficit disorder. Procedure volume is estimated at 30 million MRI scans in the US annually, and the number of scans is growing by 15-20% a year.
In terms of medical applications MRI could serve, the modality is still underused, and that means a large, untapped growth...