(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A newer version of magnetic resonance imaging, called the 3-Tesla, can help doctors better assess knee injuries in patients and help them avoid unnecessary surgery, according to two new studies.

Lead study author of both studies, Tom Magee, M.D., from Neuroskeletal Imaging in Merritt Island, Fla., and colleagues compared the 3-Tesla MRI to arthroscopy in terms of being able to detect meniscal tears in the knee.

Results show the 3-Tesla MRI had a 96-percent accuracy rate in detecting meniscal tears, identifying 108 of the 112 meniscal tears that were found after arthroscopic surgery. The 3-Tesla MRI was also able to identify meniscal tears in three cases that arthroscopy could not.

According to Dr. Magee, the 3-Tesla MRI imaging could help determine which patients with these types of knee injuries might require surgery and which might first try rehabilitation to see if the knee injury would heal on its own.

The 3-Tesla MRI differs from the standard MRI by allowing a variety of different views of the knee that could then be reconstructed to supply a three-dimensional image. Dr. Magee also believes this imaging technique can be useful in detecting other types of injuries as well, such as ACL tears, MCL injuries, and chondral knee injuries.

SOURCE: The American Roentgen Ray Society Annual Meeting in New Orleans, May 15-20, 2005