World's Most Powerful MRI: First Images of Human Brains Revealed With Incredible Precision

The first images taken with the world's most powerful MRI have been delivered.

World's Most Powerful MRI: First Images Revealed

The powerful MRI was able to achieve a whole new level of incredible precision. It is hoped to unravel more mysteries about the human mind and the illnesses that affect it.

In 2021, the machine was first used by researchers from the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) at France to scan a pumpkin. Just recently, they received the go signal from health authorities to scan the human brain.

In the past few months, there have been around 20 health volunteers who were the first ones to be scanned under the robust magnetic resonance (MRI) machine. The world's most powerful MRI is placed in the Plateau de Saclay area, which is south of Paris and which houses several tech firms and universities.

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Incredible Precision

Physicist Alexandre Vignaud shares that they were able to see a degree of precision that has never been previously achieved in the CEA.

The magnetic field that the MRI creates is 11.7 teslas. Such a power enables the machine to perform scans with 10 times more precision compared to typical hospital MRIs, whose power usually does not go over three teslas.

With the images displayed on the screen, the physicist compared shots taken by the robust MRI, called Iseult, with the scans taken from the normal and usual MRIs. Vignaud shares that with the mighty scanner, they were able to see small vessels that feed the brain's cerebral cortex. They were also able to observe cerebellum details that remained nearly invisible until now.

Sylvie Retailleau, a physicist and the research minister of France, says that the degree of precision is hardly even believable. Retailleau adds that this global milestone will enable better treatment and detection of brain pathologies.

Within a cylinder that is five meters in length and height, the machine contains a magnet worth 132 tonnes that is powered by a coil that has a current of 1,500 amps. It also has a 90-centimeter opening that humans can slide into.

Such a design comes after two decades' worth of research done through a partnership between engineers from France and Germany.

Similarly strong MRI machines have also been underway in South Korea and the US. However, they have not begun scanning human brain images.

Previously, scientists have already been using MRIs to show that when the human brain recognizes certain things, particular areas in the cerebral cortex are activated.

Breakthrough in Understanding the Brain

With 11.7-tesla power, the Iseult will be able to better understand the link between the cognitive functions and structure of the brain.

The researchers are also hopeful that the power of the machine could shed light on some underlying mechanisms behind certain neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, and psychological conditions, such as schizophrenia or depression.

They also hope to map how drugs for treating bipolar disorder distribute across the brain. The MRI's mighty magnetic field will offer clearer images of the specific brain parts that lithium targets. This could aid in identifying which patients have a better or worse response to the drug.

If these extremely harmful diseases can be understood better, earlier diagnoses and better treatment would be possible, as noted by Anne-Isabelle Etienvre, a researcher at the CEA. Nicolas Boulant, the scientific director of the project, also explains that the machine is not meant to be used for clinical diagnosis. Nevertheless, they hope that the findings they get could be used in hospital settings.

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