Feast your eyes on this stunning picture from the world’s most powerful magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine. In just four minutes, this incredible piece of kit can acquire images at a resolution that would take hours for your average hospital scanner, giving scientists an unprecedented window into the human brain.
MRI scanners work by surrounding the body – or the bit of it you want to image – with a strong
In practice, this means that this exceptional resolution can be achieved in a fraction of the time it would take for a 1.5 or 3T scanner.
If you’ve ever had an
But beyond just speed, the resolution offered by the Iseult MRI scanner can allow scientists to
In Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease research, for instance, this could provide new information on the neurodegeneration that happens in different regions of the
Using a field strength of this magnitude also allows the scanner to pick up certain chemical signals that can’t be detected with conventional scanners. One of these is
“With the Iseult project, a whole new world is opening up before our eyes, and we are excited to explore it,” said project lead and Director of Research at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Nicolas Boulant, in a
“Our goal is to investigate neurodegenerative diseases by 2026-2030, as well as other diseases that fall more under psychiatry, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. Cognitive sciences will also be of key importance in our research!”
Development of this impressive
The 132-ton machine is 5 meters (16.4 feet) in length and width, and contains 182 kilometers (113 miles) of superconducting wires. Liquid
“We are incredibly proud to see this end result of an almost 20-year-long R&D project,” said Anne-Isabelle Etienvre, Director of Fundamental Research at the CEA.
“Neuroscientists, physicists, mathematicians and physicians thus worked together to develop the tools and models that will help better understand how healthy and diseased brains work, expanding the horizons of explorations on the human brain.”