Structured Abstract

Contents

• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Background
  • How MRI Images Are Generated
  • Growth Patterns of MRI Technology
  • Emerging Stress-Loading MRI Technologies
• Methods
  • Guiding Questions
  • Identification of Key Informants and Interviews
  • Grey Literature Search
  • Building an Evidence Map
• Findings
  • Description of Stress-Loading MRI
  • Evidence Map
  • Projected Uptake and Potential Growth
• Summary and Implications
• Next Steps
  • Conceptual Framework for Future Research and Policy
  • Methodological Considerations for Future Studies of Diagnostic Accuracy
  • Assessing Impact on Diagnostic Thinking and Therapeutic Decisionmaking
  • Assessing Impact on Patient Outcomes in Observational Studies and RCTs
  • Creating Separate Procedure Codes for Special MRI Procedures
• References
• Appendixes
  • Appendix A Search Strategy
  • Appendix B Data Extraction Form
  • Appendix C Examples of Commercially Available Devices That Allow MRI Under Weight-Bearing or Stress-Loading Conditions
  • Appendix D Shared Authorship Patterns in Studies of Weight-Bearing or Stress-Loading MRI
  • Appendix E Comparative Studies of Diagnostic Tests
  • Appendix F Dedicated Extremity MRI Devices

Prepared for: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services¹, Contract No. 290-2007-10055-I, Prepared by: Tufts Evidence-based Practice Center, Boston, MA

Suggested citation:

Chung M, Dahabreh IJ, Hadar N, Gaylor JM, Ratichek SJ, Trikalinos TA, Lau J. Emerging MRI Technologies for Imaging Musculoskeletal Disorders Under Loading Stress. Technical Brief No. 7. (Prepared by the Tufts Evidence-based Practice Center under Contract No. HHSA 290-2007-100551.) AHRQ Publication No. 11-EHC024-EF. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. November 2011. Available at: www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/reports/final.cfm.

This report is based on research conducted by the Tufts Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) under contract to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Rockville, MD (Contract No. 290-2007-10055-I). The findings and conclusions in this document are those of the author(s), who are responsible for its contents; the findings and conclusions do not necessarily represent the views of AHRQ. Therefore, no statement in this report should be construed as an official position of AHRQ or of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The information in this report is intended to help health care decision makers—patients and clinicians, health system leaders, and policymakers, among others—make well-informed decisions and thereby improve the quality of health care services. This report is not intended to be a substitute for the application of clinical judgment. Anyone who makes decisions concerning the provision of clinical care should consider this report in the same way as any medical reference and in conjunction with all other pertinent information, that is, in the context of available resources and circumstances presented by individual patients.

This report may be used, in whole or in part, as the basis for development of clinical practice guidelines and other quality enhancement tools, or as a basis for reimbursement and coverage policies. AHRQ or U.S. Department of Health and Human Services endorsement of such derivative products may not be stated or implied.

None of the investigators has any affiliation or financial involvement that conflicts with the material presented in this report.

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