Working of MRI

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), formerly referred to as magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) or, in chemistry, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI), is a non-invasive method used to render images of the inside of an object. On July 3, 1977, the first MRI exam was ever performed on a human being.

MRI TIME LINE

1946 MR phenomenon - Bloch & Purcell
1952 Nobel Prize - Bloch & Purcell
1950 NMR developed as analytical tool
1960
1970
1972 Computerized Tomography
1973 Backprojection MRI - Lauterbur
1975 Fourier Imaging - Ernst
1977 Echo-planar imaging - Mansfield
1980 FT MRI demonstrated - Edelstein
1986 Gradient Echo Imaging NMR Microscope
1987 MR Angiography - Dumoulin
1991 Nobel Prize - Ernst
1992 Functional MRI
1994 Hyperpolarized 129Xe Imaging
2003 Nobel Prize - Lauterbur & Mansfield

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an imaging technique used primarily in medical settings to produce high quality images of the inside of the human body. MRI is based on the principles of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), a spectroscopic technique used by scientists to obtain microscopic chemical and physical information about molecules. The technique was called magnetic resonance imaging rather than nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI) because of the negative connotations associated with the word nuclear in the late 1970's. MRI started out as a tomographic imaging technique, that is it produced an image of the NMR signal in a thin slice through the human body. MRI has advanced beyond a tomographic imaging technique to a volume imaging technique.

Before beginning a study of the science of MRI, it will be helpful to reflect on the brief history of MRI. Felix Bloch and Edward Purcell, both of whom were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1952, discovered the magnetic resonance phenomenon independently in 1946. In the period between 1950 and 1970, NMR was developed and used for chemical and physical molecular analysis. (much more to come)