Echocardiography & Cardiac MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a painless and safe procedure where powerful magnetic and radio waves are used to take detailed images of structures within the body. It is a safe procedure because no xrays are involved, although it cannot be carried out on patients who have implanted medical devices, such as most pacemakers, or who have metal implants within their body.
Examples of cardiac magnetic resonance scans
An echocardiogram (ECHO) is also a painless test which uses sound waves to create images of the heart, similar to ultrasounds used in pregnant women to create images of their baby. Gel is put on the chest wall and a ‘probe’ moved over the surface of the chest to get images of the heart from different angles. There are no needles involved in doing a standard echo.
Examples of Echocardiogram echo picture
