MRI is increasingly being used as a new tool in the diagnostic imaging and appraisal of RA. Early bone erosion, bone marrow edema, and synovitis, conditions which cannot be identified on radiographs, are apparent on MRI scans. But it is difficult to use whole body MRI for every RA patients in clinical practice, low-field, dedicated-extremity MR machines are currently under development. MRI, which shows the active lesions in about 90% of patients diagnosed with clinical remission, is an extremely valuable tool aiding in treatment leading to true remission.