DU: MRI scanner

2023: Building an MRI Scanner

On April 17, 2023, American researchers at Duke University (DU) announced the development of a new technology for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which can increase the clarity of brain images by millions of times compared to conventional installations.

The work was attended by specialists from the Center for Health Sciences of the University of Tennessee, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pittsburgh and Indiana University. It is noted that the created system allows you to form images with a voxel size (three-dimensional pixel) of only 5 micrometers. This is approximately 64 million times less than traditional MRI images.

New MRI machine creates images with 64 million times greater clarity

The proposed technology provides a qualitatively new way to visualize the connections of the entire brain - with a record resolution. Going forward, the achievement will help to better understand how the brain changes with age, diet or even with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. Thus, it will be possible to develop new methods of treating severe ailments.

The team used a powerful 9.4 Tesla magnet (clinical MRIs typically use magnets ranging from 1.5 to 3 Tesla), a set of gradient coils 100 times stronger than standard scans, and a supercomputer equivalent in power to 800 conventional laptops. Experiments in mouse models have traced how brain-wide connections change with age. The images also provided an opportunity to capture how Alzheimer's disease destroys neural connections. It has been found that certain areas of the brain, such as the subiculum, change more than others. Research supported by the National Institute of Aging has shown that even minor dietary changes and drug therapy can lead to animals living 25% longer.^[1]

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