MRI Made Easy

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Anatomy, as with all scans, is key. MRIs produce a very clear view of structures, therefore strong anatomical knowledge is particularly helpful. Learn why each image type is used – this will enable you to know what you are looking for (e.g. for MR brain it’s useful to look at T2, then FLAIR, then DWI/ADC, as this will help distinguish between most differentials).

Without current flow, there will no longer be magnetism. The magnet now has been successfully quenched. As mentioned before, there is a strong main magnetic field in the MRI machine. This main magnetic field is uniform throughout. i.e. the strength of the magnetic field is equally strong everywhere. The MRI machine has “receiver coils ” (blue coil shown below) that receive the energy waves sent out by the nuclei. Having given up their energy, the nuclei change their spin direction and return to the low energy state that they were in before.It needs to do ‘something’ to the hydrogen nuclei to detect their presence. It is a bit like the scenario I will describe to you. Just imagine that we have three grumpy men. As you probably know, water consists of water molecules. A water molecule is made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. You'll be able to talk to the radiographer through an intercom and they'll be able to see you on a television monitor and through the viewing window throughout the scan. A computer is used to operate the MRI scanner, which is located in a different room to keep it away from the magnetic field generated by the scanner. The MRI machine can not see oxygen atoms of the water molecules, so let us ignore them. What you have left are the hydrogen atoms shown in red below.

Below is an image of a real MRI magnet, which looks much less frightening than the one I have drawn above. The patient goes into the hole in the middle. The magnet coil goes around this hole. Dr Hidayatullah Hamidi. Normal brain MR shows differences between T1 and T2 images. Licence: [CC BY-SA]. The reason why the MRI machine is so loud is that it is actually an “huge guitar”. Don’t worry, I will explain it to you. At the centre of each hydrogen atom is an even smaller particle called a proton. Protons are like tiny magnets and are very sensitive to magnetic fields.In this article, we have outlined the basics of different types of MRI, along with key examples. A lot has been covered, and a lot has not, but this will give you a good understanding of the fundamentals of MRIs. Magnetic resonance imaging is a rapidly developing imaging modality, both technologically and in its clinical application. This growth is due to the originality of its foundations, at the crossroads of nuclear physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology and physiology. It is these technical characteristics that differentiate it from other medical imaging modalities. They give it multiple capabilities: morphological imaging with high tissue contrast, functional imaging of movement, flow, perfusion or even chemical composition. Knowing the Basics of MRI for interpretation