METHOD FOR ESTIMATING DYSFUNCTION OF TEMPOROMANDIBULAR JOINTS BY MEANS OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING IN REAL-TIME Russian patent published in 2018 - IPC A61B6/00 

FIELD: medicine.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to medicine, namely to dentistry, and can be used in assessing dysfunction of the temporomandibular joints (TMJ) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). To do this, MRI is performed on a device with a magnetic induction of 1.5 T with a standard 16-channel matrix receiving-transmitting coil for the head. T1-weighted images (T1WI) and T2-weighted images (T2WI) are obtained with the mouth open and closed. After a static scan protocol in the closed mouth position, an assessment of the lateral displacement of the intra-articular disc is performed, for which an oblique coronal T2BI is performed, which is positioned parallel to the mandible branch and perpendicular to the meniscus. Then a study is performed with the mouth open, fixing the patient's jaw with the help of a dental bite retractor. Dental bite rotator is a plastic device in the shape of a parallelepiped, the sides of which are represented by flattened platforms for fixing teeth. Selection of the desired length of the device is made before the study based on the degree of mouth opening by the patient. In the process of studying with an open mouth to obtain T2VI, the patient divides the movement from the full opening to the complete closing of the mouth into twenty parts: 10 at the opening and 10 at the closing, the patient performs all movements independently, without instructions from the operator, using the tomograph sounds for the determination of the duration of each movement, corresponding to the duration of each movement less than a second. Total time of scanning in conditions of natural movements with a full opening and then closing the mouth to one joint is up to 10 seconds.

EFFECT: method provides simultaneous visualization of all structures of the TMJ, including the condyle and meniscus, in real time, which allows to obtain an accurate description of the location of the anatomical structures and their relationship with each other during natural chewing.

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