Clinical application of MRI in ophthalmology

MRI has long been applied to clinical medical and neurological cases for the structural assessment of tissues as well as their physiological and functional needs and processes. These uses are at a variety of developmental stages in ophthalmology, from common use of clinical structural assessment for neuro‐ophthalmology and evaluation of space‐occupying lesions to the beginning stages of experimentally measuring functional activation of specific layers within the retina and measurement of physiological oxygen responses. New MRI methodologies, such as the use of orbital coils and Gd‐DTPA image enhancement, have been researched, developed, and validated in the eye, opening new possibilities for this technology to enter the clinic. This review aims to summarize the clinical ophthalmological uses of MRI, focusing on the current use of the technology and future applications. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.