[Clinical highfield MR].

MRI-imaging using a field strength above 2 Tesla -- recently termed "highfield MRI" -- has come into clinical use in the last three years. For technical reasons, the initial application of highfield MRI concentrated on examinations of the brain. By improving the technology and solving specific problems, it has now become possible to perform total body scans. Only a few studies have been carried out to determine whether the use of highfield MRI is advantageous compared to scanning at the usual field strengths, and what these advantages might be. MR-angiography of cerebral vessels as well as certain aspects of structural imaging of the brain seem to benefit. BOLD contrast fMRI, perfusion analysis and spectroscopy all seem to improve. For total body scanning, it is already possible to examine certain areas in "1.5 Tesla quality", in some cases shortening scanning time considerably. This survey summarises the present state of knowledge, realising that the presentation might not be all-comprising since progress in this field is very dynamic.