Engineering

Monitoring electromagnetic signals in the brain with MRI

Researchers commonly study brain function by monitoring two types of electromagnetism—electric fields and light. However, most methods for measuring these phenomena in the brain are very invasive.

Computer Sciences

Researchers use GPUs to evaluate human brain connectivity

A new GPU-based machine learning algorithm developed by researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) can help scientists better understand and predict connectivity between different regions of the brain.

Computer Sciences

A vision-based robotic system for 3D ultrasound imaging

Ultrasound imaging techniques have proved to be highly valuable tools for diagnosing a variety of health conditions, including peripheral artery disease (PAD). PAD, one of the most common diseases among the elderly, entails ...

Computer Sciences

Research team explores model to fix noise in photos

Those meh photos that are too grainy can be given a new lease on digital life through a method worked up by researchers who found a way to cut the noise and artifacts. Noise in this context refers to visual distortion, as ...

Engineering

New microchip technology could be used to track 'smart pills'

Researchers at Caltech have developed a prototype miniature medical device that could ultimately be used in "smart pills" to diagnose and treat diseases. A key to the new technology—and what makes it unique among other ...

Engineering

Trajectoids: Creating a shape that rolls along a desired path

Normally, when we think of a rolling object, we tend to imagine a torus (like a bicycle wheel) or a sphere (like a tennis ball) that will always follow a straight path when rolling. However, the world of mathematics and science ...

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Magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic 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.

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