Magnetic resonance imaging
hideMagnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), or nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI), is primarily a medical imaging technique most commonly used in radiology to visualize the internal structure and function of the body. MRI provides much greater contrast between the different soft tissues of the body than computed tomography (CT) does, making it especially useful in neurological (brain), musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and oncological (cancer) imaging. Unlike CT, it uses no ionizing radiation, but uses a powerful magnetic field to align the nuclear magnetization of (usually) hydrogen atoms in water in the body. Radio frequency (RF) fields are used to systematically alter the alignment of this magnetization, causing the hydrogen nuclei to produce a rotating magnetic field detectable by the scanner. This signal can be manipulated by additional magnetic fields to build up enough information to construct an image of the body.:36
Magnetic Resonance Imaging is a relatively new technology. The first MR image was published in 1973 and the first cross-sectional image of a living mouse was published in January 1974. The first studies performed on humans were published in 1977. By comparison, the first human X-ray image was taken in 1895.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging was developed from knowledge gained in the study of nuclear magnetic resonance. In its early years the technique was referred to as nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI). However, as the word nuclear was associated in the public mind with ionizing radiation exposure it is generally now referred to simply as MRI. Scientists still use the term NMRI when discussing non-medical devices operating on the same principles. The term Magnetic Resonance Tomography (MRT) is also sometimes used.
For more information about Magnetic resonance imaging, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with mri
Colombian guerrillas help scientists locate literacy in the brain
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 14, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (7) |
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A unique study of former guerrillas in Colombia has helped scientists redefine their understanding of the key regions of the brain involved in literacy. The study, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Spanish ...
A new scan for lung diseases
Oct 13, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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People with chronic lung disease and asthma could soon be offered better treatment thanks to a new type of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan being pioneered at The University of Nottingham.
Hyper-SAGE boosts remote MRI sensitivity
Oct 09, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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A new technique in Magnetic Resonance Imaging dubbed "Hyper-SAGE" has the potential to detect ultra low concentrations of clincal targets, such as lung and other cancers. Development of Hyper-SAGE was led ...
Scans show learning 'sculpts' the brain's connections
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 09, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (6) |
1
Spontaneous brain activity formerly thought to be "white noise" measurably changes after a person learns a new task, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Chieti, Italy, ...
iPhone the body electric: New 'apps' visualize human anatomy
Oct 08, 2009 |
4 / 5 (2) |
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University of Utah researchers created new iPhone programs - known as applications or "apps" - to help scientists, students, doctors and patients study the human body, evaluate medical problems and analyze ...
Magnetic Resonance Now Also Comes In Tiny Quantities
Sep 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- It is now possible to analyse very small samples using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Thanks to a specially constructed detector, a 'stripline', greater sensitivity can be achieved while maintaining the same ...
Researchers unravel brain's wiring to understand memory
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Sep 28, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
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Using a powerful microscope, Karel Svoboda, a brain scientist at the Janelia Farm Research Campus in Ashburn, Va., peers through a plastic window in the top of a mouse's head to watch its brain's neurons sprout new connections ...
Medical imaging's growth leaves standards in the dust, critics say
Sep 23, 2009 |
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Medical imaging is such a growth industry that even the owner of the Dallas Cowboys has gone into the business. At Blue Star Imaging in Irving, Texas, Cowboys jerseys hang in the lobby, and miniature NFL helmets line a shelf. ...
Pancreatic fat levels may help predict diabetes, researchers say
Sep 22, 2009 |
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Researchers have long suspected that overweight people tend to have large fat deposits in their pancreases, but they've been unable to confirm or calculate how much fat resides there because of the organ's ...
Despite ongoing safety concerns, study finds adverse reactions from contrast agents rarely occur
Sep 21, 2009 |
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Iodinated and Gadolinium based contrast agents, frequently used during computed tomography (CT) and MRI scans to aid in the imaging process, are associated with a very low rate of adverse effects, according to a large cohort ...
Healthy older brains not significantly smaller than younger brains, new imaging study shows
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Sep 08, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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The belief that healthy older brains are substantially smaller than younger brains may stem from studies that did not screen out people whose undetected, slowly developing brain disease was killing off cells in key areas, ...
Experts warn over health check brain scans
Sep 03, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
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A new study has voiced concern about the growing market for brain screening tests, which people can buy as part of a general health MOT.
Robot's gentle touch aids delicate cancer surgery
Aug 21, 2009 |
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New, delicate surgery techniques to hunt for tumours could benefit from a lighter touch - but from a robot, rather than from a human hand. Canadian researchers have created a touchy-feely robot that detects tougher tumour ...
Kinetic variable most useful for identifying malignant MRI-detected breast lesions identified
Aug 19, 2009 |
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Breast MRI allows physicians to evaluate suspicious lesions using a variety of variables. Researchers have found though that computer-aided kinetic information can help significantly in distinguishing benign from malignant ...
Nanomagnets guide stem cells to damaged tissue
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Aug 17, 2009 |
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Microscopic magnetic particles have been used to bring stem cells to sites of cardiovascular injury in a new method designed to increase the capacity of cells to repair damaged tissue, UCL scientists announced today.
