The science of an MRI

By Rechell McDonald
Magnetic Resonating Machines (MRIs) were originally developed in the 1970s, but the original MRI was much different from our modern ones. The first MRI took almost five hours to produce one image, although the machine worked and gave doctors and scientists the incredible ability to look inside the human body without having to cut it open. It was the dawn of a new era.
Today, MRIs are used to diagnose a variety of conditions including multiple sclerosis (MS), tumours, stroke, and many more. A superconducting magnet combines with a scanner, radio frequency coil and gradient coils together inside the machine to view and convey internal imagery of the human body. The magnet is the most important part of the machine, and its strength is so great that you cannot use the machine if you have metal inside your body.
Although these machines are expensive to purchase, they are economical to operate and they are continuing to evolve. Although the general design hasn’t changed much over the years, the bore, or long magnetic tube that a person must lay in during a scan, is being adapted to be less claustrophobic. Some models feature a much more open bore, but the openness reduces the power of the magnetic field and, therefore, are not as effective. Smaller, portable versions are being developed so that singular areas or body parts can be scanned independently, making it possible for those who are too large (obese) for the conventional machine to still have access to this technology.
Your doctor may recommend that you have an MRI performed if you are having any motor function issues that indicate an issue with your brain, if you’ve suffered from a stroke, or if you have any symptoms that they cannot correlate to another condition or illness. Since an MRI can provide in-depth imaging of your body, doctors can see any abnormal tissues, internal swelling and scarring as well as growths, and fluid build-ups. This incredible scientific development has changed the way doctors are able to investigate our bodies and have made it much easier to catch illnesses in their early stages.