Kill Devil Hills (North Carolina), Dec. 17 (Reuters): Suffering from knee pain that forced him to curtail his running, President George W. Bush will have his knees examined tomorrow using magnetic resonance imaging devices (MRI), the White House said.

Bush will undergo the MRI exams on both knees during a previously scheduled visit to Walter Reed Medical Center to meet wounded US troops, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said travelling with the President to North Carolina today. An MRI scan gives a finer image of bodily structures than X-rays, and does not involve any sedation.

Asked if Bush would be willing to undergo surgery before the election next November, McClellan said: “Let’s let the MRI take place.” US secretary of state Colin Powell, 66, underwent successful surgery to remove his prostate on Monday and was expected to make a full recovery and return to work full-time early next year. McClellan said Bush spoke to Powell yesterday and would likely drop by his room at Walter Reed if he is still there. Bush, who is 57 and serious about fitness, suffered a minor muscle tear in his calf in late April and tried to ignore it, but eventually was sidelined from running.

McClellan said the calf strain had essentially healed, but “separate and apart from that, when he was running, he felt occasional pain in his right knee.”

Bush continues to work out on an elliptical trainer, a machine used for walking and running like a treadmill but which is easier on the knees. He is also lifting weights and swimming. Bush neither drinks nor smokes and his cardiovascular system is in the top 1 per cent for men his age.

He has privately complained in recent months that his injury was preventing him from getting the kind of aerobic work out he is accustomed to. “He’s still working out regularly but he does enjoy running,” McClellan said. “He’s showing the wear and tear of someone who is active and someone his age, and it’s important, as he has said ... for someone his age to listen to his body and heed the signals that your body’s telling you,” McClellan added.