08 April 2024 – With its first scans of the human brain, the most powerful MRI scanner in the world has achieved a degree of accuracy that is expected to provide more insight into our enigmatic minds and the diseases that plague them.
In 2021, scientists from the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in France used the device for the first time to scan a pumpkin. However, health officials have authorised them to scan people. During the previous several months, around 20 healthy volunteers were the first people to enter the maw of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine. The MRI machine is situated in the Plateau de Saclay neighbourhood, south of Paris, which is home to numerous institutions and technological enterprises.
As for the degree of accuracy at CEA, physicist Alexandre Vignaud said, “We have seen a level of precision never reached before.” A staggering 11.7 teslas, or Teslas, is the unit of measurement for the magnetic field generated by the scanner, and it is named after the creator, Nikola Tesla.
Conclusion
With this power, the scanner can scan pictures ten times more precisely than typical hospital MRIs, which typically have a power of no more than three teslas. Vignaud contrasted the pictures produced by this powerful scanner, called Iseult, with those from a typical MRI on a computer screen.
