Read Your Own Elbow MRI Scans Free, With Optional AI Support

Inside an Elbow MRI Series

A standard elbow protocol is really four separate acquisitions stitched together, and each one is aimed at a different part of the joint. Coronal fat-saturated images cut across the elbow from front to back and are the plane a radiologist leans on for the common extensor origin at the lateral epicondyle, the common flexor origin at the medial epicondyle, and the ulnar collateral ligament running along the inner side of the joint — tendinosis and tears light up as bright fluid signal against the suppressed fat.

Sagittal images slice the elbow from side to side and give the cleanest view of the capitellum and the trochlea, the two rounded ends of the humerus that meet the radius and ulna, along with any joint effusion pooling in the anterior and posterior recesses. Axial images stack in cross-section through the joint and are where a radiologist traces the ulnar nerve as it threads through the cubital tunnel behind the medial epicondyle, and where the triceps tendon insertion at the tip of the olecranon gets checked for a partial tear.

A fourth series, the FABS view — flexed, abducted, supinated, arm raised overhead — is acquired on its own because it is the only position that lays the distal biceps tendon out in one continuous line from the muscle belly to its insertion on the radial tuberosity. In the standard three planes that same tendon runs obliquely through several slices at once, which is exactly why partial distal biceps tears get missed without a dedicated FABS acquisition.

Elbow Conditions on MRI

How It Works

Reading Your Report Against the Images

When a report lists a finding at the lateral epicondyle, scroll the coronal stack until the humeral condyles come into view — the common extensor tendon sits directly over the lateral bump, the common flexor tendon over the medial one. Ulnar collateral ligament findings sit on those same coronal slices, just deeper and slightly posterior, running from the medial epicondyle down to the sublime tubercle of the ulna. If the report calls out the capitellum or an osteochondral lesion, switch to the sagittal stack and look at the front third of the rounded articular surface — this is the region thrown, throwing-adjacent, and gymnastics injuries tend to affect. Cubital tunnel or ulnar nerve findings send you to the axial stack at the level of the medial epicondyle, where the nerve shows up as a small round structure tucked just behind the bone. Distal biceps findings are confirmed on the FABS series rather than the standard axial or sagittal stacks, since FABS is the acquisition built specifically for that tendon.

Joint effusion and synovitis get called out on whichever series shows the anterior and posterior fat pads pushed away from the humerus, which is usually the sagittal stack — a large effusion there often prompts a closer look at the coronal images for an associated tendon or ligament tear feeding the fluid. Loose intra-articular bodies show up as small dark or bright fragments sitting in the coronoid or olecranon fossa depending on which view you check, and they are frequently easiest to spot on the sagittal series where the joint recesses open up the widest.

Why an Elbow MRI Reformats Differently Than a CT

Using the Viewer on Your Elbow Study

Once the DICOM files are loaded, scroll each series independently with the slice slider or the arrow keys, and switch between the coronal, sagittal, axial, and FABS stacks as separate tabs rather than one merged timeline. Windowing and leveling controls push the display toward bone or toward soft tissue, which matters most on the coronal fat-saturated series where a marrow contusion near the epicondyles can wash out under the default preset. If a report or your own read flags a capitellar lesion, the measurement tool lets you drag a line across it on the sagittal slice where it looks largest and get a millimeter reading to compare against a future scan. Because the FABS series is acquired on its own, the viewer keeps it open alongside the standard three planes instead of forcing a merge, so you can flip between a suspicious spot on the axial stack and the same tendon's course on the FABS view without losing your place. Where your files have enough slices and consistent spacing, the viewer will also attempt an MPR reconstruction, with the reformatting limits described above.

AI Explanation vs a Radiology Second Opinion

Elbow reports carry their own vocabulary — lateral and medial epicondylitis, UCL sprain grades, cubital tunnel syndrome, a FABS-confirmed distal biceps tear — and AI support exists to translate that language against the images in front of you, not to replace the person who actually read the scan. Use it to understand why a grade 2 UCL sprain reads differently from a grade 3 tear, or what a positive FABS finding changes about a distal biceps repair timeline, before your next appointment.

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