New Technology Sees Detailed Anatomy of the Heart Cardiac MRI is now another diagnostic tool available to McLaren Flint’s structural heart and cardiac care specialists. It is the only technology of its kind in the region. Cardiac MRI is a non-invasive evaluation of cardiac function, cardiac structures and cardiac pathology. The benefits to patients include no radiation exposure and that it is a non-invasive test. Among the benefits to heart experts are its superior imaging quality, proven usefulness for both diagnosis and management for a wide range of cardiac disease states, and its superior sensitivity and detail for stress testing compared to other stress imaging options. It can help diagnose valvular disease, aortic disease, irregular heartbeats, disease of the heart muscle called cardiomyopathy and multiple other conditions. Cardiac MRI provides detailed and clearer pictures of the heart and blood vessels from many views. Often, it is used when more information is needed after a patient has had an echocardiogram or heart CT scan. Another added benefit is it does not use ionizing radiation. In most cases a test can be completed in about an hour. During the testing the patient lies on their back inside of the MRI machine and is instructed by the technicians to do a series of breath holds in between capturing the heart’s normal rhythm or what we often call the beat. The patient can choose to listen to music in between communication from the technicians once the testing gets underway. All tests are reviewed by Abdulbaset Sulaiman, MD, who is fellowship trained in advanced cardiac imaging. Once the imaging is interpreted, Dr. Sulaiman sends the results to the patient’s cardiac care provider. Tests are performed at the McLaren MRI-Flint outpatient facility located just ¼ mile south of McLaren Flint on Ballenger Highway.