Scanning spares heart patients the needle

Scanners which take three-dimensional pictures of the heart and its blood vessels could take the discomfort and risk out of diagnosing coronary artery disease. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology is already widely used in hospitals, often to diagnose the extent of cancers by providing a detailed 3-D image of tumours. But few use it to examine patients who are showing the symptoms of heart disease, relying instead on needle angiography. This involves inserting a fine tube, usually into an artery at the groin, usually under local anaesthetic, and passing it all the way to the blood vessels surrounding the heart, where dye is injected which will show up on X-rays.