WE-G-211-02: Origins and Development of Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Medical Physics
G Clarke

Abstract

The method of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was an extension of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy that was enabled by computational systems capable of performing the Fast Fourier Transform. Initially, a diverse group of methods were proposed for producing images with NMR, with the multi-slice spin-warp spin echo MRI method winning out as the first clinically useful approach. Immediately radiologists were impressed in the soft tissue contrast seen in MR images and the great flexibility with which image contrast could be manipulated. Over the years, advances in both hardware and the implementation of new pulse sequences of increasing complexity led to the increasing utility of MRI. The great success of MRI research contributed to the awarding of both the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for Richard Ernst in 1991 and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for Lauterbur and Mansfield in 2003. The evolution of the modality produced increasing speed of acquisition, finer spatial resolution and an expanding range of clinical applications. Technological advances included improvements in gradient coils, superconducting magnets, phased array radiofrequency coils, and partially parallel image reconstruction algorithms. The wide ...Continue Reading

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