Soft Tissue Champion

X-rays excel at bones. MRI excels at everything else, producing extraordinary detail in soft tissues — the brain, spinal cord, muscles, ligaments, organs, and tumors that X-rays barely detect. A brain MRI can reveal:

• Tumors smaller than a centimeter
• Early signs of multiple sclerosis
• Stroke damage within hours
• Alzheimer-related brain shrinkage

For knee injuries, it can tell a torn ligament from damaged cartilage or a bone bruise — impossible with X-rays alone. Surgeons even use the images to plan operations before the first cut.