(Press-News.org) OAK BROOK, Ill. — With a new MRI technique that shows both heart tissue and blood flow simultaneously, physicians can see where heart defects occur and precisely plan to repair them, according to new research published today in Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in Pennsylvania have developed 3D volume rendering methods for cardiac MRI that display complex structures within the heart and show how blood moves through them, much like ultrasound images but without the typical challenges of positioning angles. In their study, the researchers demonstrated how their methods guided treatment decisions in four young children who had complex heart conditions that were present from birth.
Volume rendering is a computer graphics technique that creates 3D images directly from MRI scan data. It works by assigning colors and transparency to different tissue types based on how they appear in the MRI.
“Think of it like adjusting the settings on a photograph to highlight certain features,” said study coauthor Matthew Jolley, M.D., a pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist and cardiologist at CHOP and an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania. “We developed specific settings that make heart muscle and heart valves visible while making blood and surrounding tissues transparent.”
The technique is particularly useful for observing blood flow through complex structures like valve leaflets—the flaps within the heart valves that are designed to open to allow blood to flow through, then close to form a tight seal and keep the blood from leaking backward in the wrong direction.
“In patients with holes in the heart structure or leaflets that don’t form a complete seal, we can now see the valve leaflets moving and identify exactly where a valve is leaking, which has not been possible with MRI before this technique,” Dr. Jolley said.
One patient in the study, a 4-year-old boy with a leaking and narrowed aortic valve, was being evaluated for valve repair or replacement surgery. The research team’s visualization tools showed the valve leaflets and a central jet of leakage, guiding the best surgical approach.
The team developed new ways to display blood flow on MRI, including lines showing the direction of flow and color-coded displays similar to those on Doppler ultrasound. While 3D ultrasound can also show tissue and flow together, it displays a smaller field of view, and the accuracy of flow measurements depends on the angle between the ultrasound beam and the blood flow direction, Dr. Jolley explained. CT can provide excellent anatomic images but cannot show blood flow, and it uses ionizing radiation. MRI provides high-quality flow images regardless of angles, and it does it without radiation—which is especially important for children who may need repeated imaging throughout their lives.
“Importantly, volume rendering is fast—generating visualizations nearly instantaneously—which is essential for 4D moving images where there is simply too much information to process using traditional manual tracing methods,” Dr. Jolley said.
Dr. Jolley said that the team sees these MRI visualization techniques as a complement to ultrasound rather than a replacement.
“Our approach has limitations,” he said. “The quality of these visualizations depends heavily on the quality of the underlying MRI scan. Approaches like manual tracing can correct for image imperfections and is still necessary for certain analyses like computer simulations of heart function.”
The team was excited to find that their MRI-based images looked quite similar to 3D echocardiography with color Doppler, which doctors are already familiar with and rely on for evaluating heart valves.
From this work comes a suite of free cardiac image processing tools, SlicerHeart, developed using an open-source program called 3D Slicer. The research team has made the tools available for research and treatment in cardiovascular medicine, especially congenital heart disease, at SlicerHeart.org.
###
“Rapid Visualization of Valves and Myocardium Using Volume Rendering of 3D Cardiac MRI, 4D Cine, and 4D Flow Images.” Collaborating with Dr. Jolley were Julia Iacovella, B.S., Danish Vaiyani, M.D., Sehdev Pressley, B.S., Andras Lasso, Ph.D., Analise M. Sulentic, B.S., Alana R. Cianciulli, B.S., Ashley Koluda, M.S., Matthew Daemer, B.S. Mark A. Fogel, M.D., and Kevin K. Whitehead, M.D., Ph.D.
Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging is edited by interim editor Harold I. Litt, MD, Ph.D., Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and owned and published by the Radiological Society of North America, Inc. (https://pubs.rsna.org/journal/cardiothoracic)
RSNA is an association of radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists promoting excellence in patient care and health care delivery through education, research and technologic innovation. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Illinois. (RSNA.org)
For patient-friendly information on MRI, visit RadiologyInfo.org.
END
Scientists have identified a pattern of gene activity present in some female survivors of childhood abuse that is associated with an elevated risk of depression.
“We know childhood abuse increases the risk of depression at the population level, but at the individual level it’s much harder to predict who will actually develop the disorder,” said senior author Patricia Silveira, professor in McGill’s Department of Psychiatry and researcher at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute. “Our findings point to a biological mechanism that may help explain who is more at risk, at least in women.”
This pattern ...
Researchers at McGill University and the United States Forest Service have found that plants living in areas where human activity has caused population crashes carry long-lasting genetic traces of that history, such as reduced genetic diversity. Because genetic diversity helps species adapt to climate change, disease and other stresses, the study suggests it is vital to consider a population’s history-influenced genetics alongside its size and habitat in conservation planning.
“Two populations may look equally healthy on the surface, yet one may be far more vulnerable to future environmental change because it lacks genetic diversity and consists of individuals with ...
DALLAS, Feb. 12, 2026 — When a medical emergency happens, time matters and a quick response is needed[1]. During American Heart Month 2026, the National Fraternal Order of Police joins the American Heart Association in urging Americans everywhere to be the help until help arrives and learn how to respond in a medical emergency such as cardiac arrest – when providing help like cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can be the difference between life and death.
For the fourth consecutive year, American Heart Month highlights the need to be prepared in an emergency and provide CPR because immediate action can change outcomes. In fact, providing ...
A new national study finds a concerning surge in teen “sexting,” which frequently exposes them to serious risks, including sextortion, coercion and privacy violations. Sexting involves sending or receiving sexually suggestive images or video, while sextortion is the threat to share explicit or intimate images without consent to pressure someone into providing more images, sexual favors, money or other demands. Sextortion is especially harmful for teens, who are still developing impulse control, risk assessment and emotional regulation.
Using a national sample of 3,466 adolescents aged 13 to 17 years in the United States, researchers from Florida ...
Liver cirrhosis, the common endpoint of chronic liver disease, is characterized by diffuse fibrosis, pseudolobule formation, and vascular distortion. Its clinical spectrum ranges from asymptomatic early stages to advanced disease with severe complications like ascites, variceal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy (HE), hepatorenal syndrome (HRS), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To address evolving clinical needs and integrate the latest evidence, the Chinese Society of Hepatology has updated the 2019 guidelines, renaming ...
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., February 12, 2026 - Insilico Medicine (3696.HK), a clinical-stage, generative AI-driven drug discovery company, today announced the launch of a new interactive webpage highlighting the Rentosertib story as featured in a recent Harvard Business School case study, providing a practical, public-facing overview of how AI can be applied across the drug discovery process.
The Harvard Business School case, Insilico’s Rentosertib Dilemma: A Star in the Pipeline?, examines the development of Insilico’s lead asset, Rentosertib, which completed a Phase IIa clinical evaluation for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The case describes Rentosertib as the world’s ...
As the world is moving towards more sustainable energy solutions, the emergence of next-generation batteries is a crucial and indispensable milestone. One such next-generation battery is the lithium-ion battery (LIB), which has been currently dominating the energy solutions sector. However, lithium is sparsely distributed across geographies, increasing extraction difficulties and battery production cost. Other next-generation batteries, such as sodium-ion batteries (NIBs) and potassium-ion batteries (KIBs), are promising alternatives to LIBs, offering resource-unconstrained, cost-effective, and sustainable ...
NEWS
EMBARGOED UNTIL 4:00 A.M. PACIFIC TIME THURSDAY, FEB. 12, 2026
NOTE TO EDITORS: PHOTO AVAILABLE
Contact: Carly Murphy
949-501-1008
murphyco@uci.edu
Public health researchers use newly developed data analysis method to build the first cell type-specific gene regulatory maps for Alzheimer’s disease, revealing the genetic mechanisms operating within patients’ brains.
The study also identified ...
Cancer researchers working on immunotherapies have made a big discovery: SLAMF6, a molecule on the surface of immune cells that prevents T cells from effectively attacking tumours – and, in mice, they've found a way to neutralize it.
Led by Université de Montréal medical professor Dr. André Veillette, director of the molecular oncology research unit at the UdeM-affiliated Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM), the breakthrough is detailed in a study published in Nature.
An internal brake independent of tumor cells
In their lab, Veillette and his team demonstrated that, ...
Artificial intelligence is increasingly able to simulate human behavior and answer online surveys and political polls, putting the reliability of survey-based research at risk. Consequences can be serious not only for science and research - online surveys are a cornerstone of modern social-science research - but also for policy and participation of people in democratic processes, as surveys are widely used in political polls. This is a worry expressed in a comment in Nature by three researchers ...
