3 Review(s)

The second volume of Frontiers in European Radiology covers two very promising techniques in diagnostic radiology, namely digital radiography and nuclear mag- netic resonance imaging. Leading experts in both fields from Europe and the Unit- ed States were invited to give a critical overview; digital fluoroscopy is reported on mainly by American scientists since this technique has been developed primarily in the United States, while the results of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging are pre- sented by British groups currently at the forefront of research in this field. The pa- pers reflect the state of the art at mid-1981, when the contributors gathered for the yearly symposium on Current Topics in Diagnostic Radiology in Berne, Switzer- land. Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, also known as spin imaging or zeugmato- graphy, has produced striking progress within the past few years - even within the past few months - as described in three papers of this volume. The images generally reflect the distribution of mobile protons contained within water and fats, and pro- vide remarkable discrimination between different tissues. Malignant tissue might be identified with this technique, and a wide range of disorders associated with water concentration, diffusion, and flow would be amenable to study; the measurement of blood flow could be particularly interesting.